Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
by LittleVampirateXX
Summary: Isabel Norrington journeys to World's End to bring Jack Sparrow back from the dead, with the help from her friends of course. But will Elizabeth still be her friend when the truth is revealed? And will Belle EVER be able to tell Jack how she feels?
1. Singapore

**Hello everyone! I'm back! Isn't that great-ish? Depends on your point of view I suppose! If you're bored of these stories then you'll be like "Oh. Crap... not her! I thought she'd gone away!"**

**Well, now I'm back there's nothing to do but bring good ol' Jackie back to, eh? We can't leave Belle lonely for too long (I value my life too much)! Thank you to everyone who read the last one and a hug to everyone who reviewed it as well!**

**LOVE YOU ALL!!!**

**LV**

**XX  
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* * *

Hope was all that kept me going. It kept me breathing. Without the knowledge that things were going to get better I'd have suffocated and drowned in my own pain.

I must have been a nightmare to be around. Sometimes I'd snap at the slightest thing and other times I'd just sit there, wrapped in my own pain, shutting everyone else out and longing to be left alone. But I hated being alone. When I was alone I'd feel so trapped by the fears and doubts screaming in my head that I would go and look for company. This usually ended in an argument because I'd woken someone up. The slightest things annoyed me. My temper had always been short, but now I was like a gun with no safety catch. I was like fire near gunpowder. I could explode at anyone at any time. Everyone had quickly figured out it was safest to avoid me. Maybe that was why Barbossa had sent me a different way from the others.

He needn't have worried. I was determined to be on my best behavior. I knew better than anyone what it would cost us if I slipped up, but if the worst came to the worst I was ready. I gripped the hilt of the sword concealed in the lining of my cloak and my mouth twitched into the closest thing to a smile that had been on my face in a very long time. I kept my head bowed and the hood of my cloak up not just to shield myself from the continuous drizzle, but because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. Not that there was anyone around to pay attention to me.

The backstreets of Singapore were dark and pretty much empty. The few people I passed barely gave me a second glance. They all looked too tired and strained to pay me much attention. There was no doubt that recent events were taking there toll on everyone. Most of the time it was just me walking alone, along empty streets. The windows of the houses I walked past were dark and blank. My footsteps were so loud in the silence and darkness that I was convinced there was someone following me. I even stopped and turned to look behind me, but the ally was empty.

I got to one street where the lamps had all blown out. I slowed and hesitated for a second, but I reminded myself of why were here and I strode on with fresh determination. Of course the problem of reminding myself why I was here was that I had to think about it. I had to think about _him_ and what _he_ could be going through. I didn't want to fall into that trap. Not now, not when strength was so important. I tried to block any thoughts from my mind. I didn't want to think about what we were going to have to do. Barbossa had said enough times that we may not get _there,_ to where _he _was. We may not even get out of Singapore. And if we didn't…

No! Stop thinking about it! Every time I did I worrying about not making it. Then _he'd_ have to stay _there_. And I didn't know what happened _there_. And I didn't want to. All I knew was that it wasn't pleasant and I couldn't leave _him_ there.

All I needed was something to fill the silence. Something to stop me thinking. There was no-one to talk to and I wasn't going to stoop to talking to myself. Singing was alright though, as long as it was quiet. It was such a shame that the only song I could think of was not only the most important one ever sung in the whole of pirate history, but also the most dangerous to be caught singing. Especially since it was rumoured the East India Trading Company was close by.

_The king and his men  
stole the queen from her bed  
and bound her in her bones.  
The seas be ours  
and by the powers  
where we will we'll roam._

_Yo, ho, haul together,  
hoist the colors high.  
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,  
never shall we die._

_Some men have died  
and some are alive  
and others sail on the sea  
– with the keys to the cage...  
and the Devil to pay  
we lay to Fiddler's Green!_

_The bell has been raised  
from its watery grave...  
Do you hear its sepulchral tone?  
We are a call to all,  
pay head the squall  
and turn your sail toward home!_

_Yo, ho, haul together,  
hoist the colors high.  
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,  
never shall we die._

_Yo, ho-_

I broke of as I saw a light a head of me. I could hear the sound of many voices and as I emerged into the street between the harbor and the bathhouse I saw the familiar signs of a busy port. There were a lot of people, but they were all too busy to notice me, the insignificant woman standing in the shadows. I scanned the faces of those coming up from the harbor.

It was Barbossa I saw first because he is taller and he has the most ridiculous hat. Elizabeth was standing next to him. She was also wearing a ridiculous hat, but at least she had a reason. She was wearing hers so that she would blend in in Singapore. Barbossa wears his because he's a fool and thinks he actually looks intimidating in it. I fell into step with them and lowered my hood. Barbossa barely glance at me, but Elizabeth gave me a smile. I frowned at the three men I had only just noticed seemed to be with our little procession.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"Just some people we ran into," replied Elizabeth.

"Aye, and no thanks to you," said Barbossa bitterly.

Elizabeth shot him a furious look. "It was self defense!" she protested. I thought about asking what had happened, but soon decided I didn't want to know. Anyway, it looked as though Elizabeth had her mind on other things. I could see worry hidden in her eyes. The reason for this soon became clear when she clanked at Barbossa and asked in a would-be-casual manner, "Have you heard anything from Will?"

Barbossa rolled his eyes slightly, but didn't even look at her. "I trust Master Turner to acquire the charts, just as I trust you two to remember your place in front of Captain Sao Feng."

"Is he really that terrifying?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"He's much like myself, absent my merciful nature and sense of fair play," Barbossa replied.

"What is he talking about?" I hissed to Elizabeth as we came to a stop outside a wooden door. "He's not got a-"

"Stop yer mumbling, Isabel!" Barbossa snapped. Maybe I hadn't been talking as quietly or slyly as I'd thought. I pulled a face at the back of his head. Elizabeth stifled a laugh. One of the men we were with raised his fist and banged on the door. A small panel slid open, the man we were with said something, it must have been a password because the panel banged shut and the door sprang open.


	2. The Bathhouse

**SaveroftheSun: *hugs you back* OMG! You're back too! Wot do you mean *sigh*? I thought you loved A Long Road Taken 2!!! I do!**

**keiraliz: Well you can stop wondering now! You could just be being polite, you may be secretly bored. **

**nineteennitytwo: Thanks. I didn't mean to almost make you cry though!**

**callieandjack: Thanks, it's good to be back! I have missed you all in the world of fanfic!**

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: I'm a Willabether, soz, I just don't see Sparrabeth in any of the films! It's just my opinion though!**

**klutzygal12: Whatever Tia Huang says when he gets to the door. Something in whatever language he speaks.  
**

* * *

The entrance to the bathhouse wasn't exactly what you would call inviting. It was dark and very dingy and small. It wasn't, on first impression, the sort of place I had expected the Pirate Lord of Singapore to be spending his time.

On arrival we were stopped and told to remove anything that was considered a weapon. Elizabeth and I looked to Barbossa as he handed over his sword and pistols. We tried to move forward, but were stopped again. The man's eyes lingered on Elizabeth and me, but it was Barbossa he spoke to, "You think because they are women we would not suspect them of treachery?"

I hated it when men did that, talked about us as if we weren't there or as if we were too stupid to understand what they were saying and so had to say it to another man instead, but after years of being James's sister I'd sort of become used to it and learnt to tune it out. It did bug me when I wasn't expecting it though. And, to be honest, I hadn't been subjected to it since joining _him_ on the _Pearl_. I handed over my own pistol and sword, but they still weren't happy, so I turned over my 'backup' sword hidden in the lining of my clock. I then handed over my cloak and looked to Elizabeth.

She had taken her coat off and handed it over. I saw that she had also hidden weapons in the lining. Underneath that she was wearing a fully loaded gun-belt which she removed with a sigh. After a pause and a stern look from Barbossa she turned in several guns and grenades. Another pause and she leant so far backwards she was practically bent in two. She produced a gun about three feet long, straightened up and threw it on the pile. She tried to step forward, but was stopped again.

"Remove," he said. "Please."

She was forced to change into a short robe so there was no chance she could have been hiding anything. I have to admit I found it quite funny. Needless to say that she didn't. She glowered at me when I smirked at her disgruntled expression, so I stopped smirking. Even though she is generally thought of to be the more even tempered of the two of us Elizabeth can be pretty scary sometimes.

We were lead into a bath house that was hot and humid and full of steam. It was quite an uncomfortable place to be in. On either side of us there were huge bath tubs full of boiling hot water and pirates. A few had some form of sea creatures stuck to their faces. It must have been beneficial for one reason or another, but they reminded me of Davy Jones and his crew. I clenched my fists and my jaw against the rage boiling up inside me at the thought of Jones. I hated him. Most feared him, but not I, not anymore. He had already taken Jack from me. What else was there left to take?

"Calm, Izzy," said Elizabeth quietly, noticing my expression. I relaxed a little, reminding myself that now wasn't the time.

At the end of the long room a man stood with his back to us and steam swirling around him. "Cap'n Sao Feng!" said Barbossa loudly. The man turned to face us, his arm outstretched.

"Captain Barbossa. Welcome to Singapore," he said looking anything but welcoming. His eyes were cold, black and hard. He had two long scars running down the side of his face. They looked quite terrifying, but then I caught a glimpse of his nails. They were more like talons. The thought struck me that maybe he'd given himself those scars simply by scratching his cheek. I manage to stop myself smiling at this thought just in time. Everyone else around him was looking at him with a great respect. He was, after all, the Pirate Lord of Singapore. Then again, Barbossa was a Pirate Lord and so was… _he_, but not may people looked at them with the same amount of respect. Sao Feng turned to one of the two twins on either side of him. "More steam," he ordered.

The girl pulled on a rope and moments later another mass of steam came billowing into the room. Sao Feng turned back to Barbossa as if Elizabeth and I didn't exist.

"I hear you have a request to put to me?" he asked.

"More of a proposal to put to ye," Barbossa replied. "I have a venture underway and I find myself in need of a ship and crew."

Sao Feng scratched his head with one of his inch long nails. I shuddered. They were sharp as knives and black with filth. "That's an odd coincidence…"

"Because you happen to have a ship and a crew you don't need?" Elizabeth couldn't help but butt in. Barbossa shot her a warning look, but Sao Feng didn't seen fazed by the interruption.

"No," he said, "because earlier today, not far from here, a thief broke into my most revered uncle's temple and tried to make off with these…" He just had to nod before someone threw him something. He studied our expressions, "Navigational Charts. The route to the Furthest Gate. It would be an odd coincidence if this venture of yours took you to the world beyond this one."

"It would strain credulity at that," Barbossa was forced to admit. Sao Feng held his gaze for a moment. Barbossa shifted uncomfortably. Sao Feng looked to his left. He nodded. There was a splash and a man was hauled up from one of the baths. His hands were tied to a pole above his head; his clothes and hair were so wet they clung to him like a second skin. He took in a deep, gasping breath. It was Will. Elizabeth tensed beside me, but we didn't react.

"Is the thief's face familiar to you?" Sao Feng asked us. I didn't trust myself to speak. I knew if I did my voice would come out all squeaky like it did when I was scared or lying. As I was both at that moment I probably would have shattered glass and Sao Feng would have known I was lying. I settled for shaking my head, as did the others. Sao Feng raised a sharp metal spike, "No? Then I guess I have no further need for him."

He moved the spike sharply towards Will, aiming for the heart. I shut my eyes. This couldn't be happening. I heard someone shout "No!"

I opened my eyes. At first I thought it may have been me who shouted, but it was Elizabeth that Barbossa was glaring at so I guessed it must have been her. We may have been discovered, but at least another one of us hadn't died. That would have been two to pick up in the land of the dead. Sao Feng turned and faced us. "So… you have betrayed my hospitality."

He sounded very angry. I was glad it was up to Barbossa to answer him. He did so, but not very well. "Sao Feng, I assure you, I had no idea…"

"That he would get caught!" Sao Feng snapped. I had to admit he had a point, but all of this was wasting time! Sao Feng continued, "You intent to attempt a voyage to Davy Jones Locker, but I cannot help but wonder why."

Barbossa threw something to Sao Feng who caught it and examined it. He looked up at Barbossa with dawning realization. "The song has already been sung," said Barbossa. "The time is upon us. We must convene the Brethren Court. As one of the nine Pirate Lords you must honour the call."

Sao Feng's brow creased in a frown and he clenched his fist. "More steam," he muttered. This time when the girl pulled on the rope nothing happened. We looked at each other. We knew why the steam was missing. The crew had broken in. Sao Feng lost his temper. "I said MORE STEAM!" he shouted.

We were in danger of being discovered if steam didn't appear soon. Thankfully, the second time she pulled the string it did. Sao Feng turned his mind back to more important matters that missing steam. "The Court hasn't met in my lifetime," he said.

"Nor mine," replied Barbossa.

Sao Feng began to pace. "But when it last did, my father told me, it ended… badly."

Barbossa was ready for this. "Aye, but the time before that it produced the Code, which has served us well… and it was the very fist time that gave us the rule of the sea herself," said Barbossa. I could see Sao Feng was thinking about this, but I wasn't. I didn't care about any of this. It wasn't important and it was wasting time. Barbossa's tone grew more sinister, "And now that rule is being challenged."

The atmosphere in the room became more intense. I could sense every pirate around us was listening intently. Sao Feng's eyes hardened. News of the mass hangings and executions must have reached her too. Sao Feng forced out the words, "The East India Trading Company."

Barbossa nodded. "Lord Beckett is a pox on us all," he agreed.

There was a pause and Sao Feng said, "There is a price on all our heads, it is true. It seems the only way a pirate can turn profit anymore is by betraying other pirates." His eyes met Will's for a fleeting second, but Sao Feng looked away before I could read anything into it. "Against the Armada what is the Brethren Court? What can we do?"

"You can fight!" Elizabeth stepped forward. She'd had enough of biting her tongue. She shook off the pirate who tried to hold her back with a sharp "get off me!" She looked to Sao Feng, "You are Sao Feng, the Pirate Lord of Singapore! You command in the age of piracy where bold Captains sail free waters, where waves are not measured in feet but in increments of fear and those who pass the test become legend. Will you have that era come to an end on your watch?" she paused, letting her rhetorical question sink in. "Yet here you are. Your ships crowd the harbour, rotting on their lines while you sit here cowering in your bathwater!"

She stopped. Sao Feng surveyed her. I couldn't tell if she was angry or not. Had Elizabeth gone too far? There was no doubt that that had been a brilliant speech, but if she had offended Sao Feng it may also have been a pointless one. He circled her. "Elizabeth Swann. There is more to you than meets the eye… and the eye does not go wanting," he murmured.

Elizabeth looked like she was about to throw up. He went and stood between the two twins before he began to pace again. "I cannot help, but notice you have failed to answer my question. What is it you seek in Davy Jones Locker?"

The answer rose to my lips automatically, "Jack Sparrow,"


	3. A Fight

**SaveroftheSun: Good, cause I love it too! Sounds, erm, interesting. It put a pretty hilarious Scarlett-kidnapping**-**Lizzie scene in my head. She'd need a good disguise!**

**nineteennitytwo: Thanks. It's hard to be original in these bits. It'll be more my own stuff in the next one (well... obviously!)**

**keiraliz: Poor Will (how many times have I said that?!?) Well... as my friend pointed out, when his shirt's wet you can see his nipples through it! Hehe! The Scarlett thing made me laugh!**

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: It's quite hard not to quote and have it still making sense. I'll try to put less in though.**

**callieandjack: Eat up then! lol!**

**klutzygal12: Yeah! He's a bit scary too!**

**Nelle07: Ah, that's always a good feeling!**

* * *

Oops.

I had done it. I had spoken his name. I had thought about him. My stomach twisted as I said it and I regretted it almost immediately. I felt like I'd been stabbed. I'd never actually been stabbed before, but the huge painful hole in my insides and the pain erupting from just about everywhere was roughly how I imagined it might feel to have the blade of sword cut open your heart. It was all I could do to stop myself shaking. Sao Feng's face was as twisted as my stomach felt. Only his was twisted in anger, not pain.

"The only reason I would want Jack Sparrow back from the Land of the Dead," he lost the fight to keep his voice level, "is so I could SEND HIM BACK MYSELF!!"

He banged his fist down hard on a table. I jumped. My teeth ground together in a vain effort to keep my mouth closed. My moment of pain was blinded by anger. Barbossa crossed over to Sao Feng and attempted to undo the mess I had just created. He tried to talk sense into Sao Feng, explaining why we needed Jack back, but Sao Feng still looked really angry. What was his problem? I understood now why we had been so thoroughly searched upon arrival. Anyone with half a brain would have shot Sao Feng dead after two minuets in his company. Even after Barbossa had explained that Jack was needed for the Brethren Court, Sao Feng did not seem to relax. His eyes were ablaze with fury.

"So, you have deceived me," he said. Was he still sore about the thief thing? We'd passed by that topic ages ago. I got the feeling we were going backwards. I jumped as Sao Feng suddenly broke the silence by shouting, "WEAPONS!"

In a matter of seconds we were surrounded by his men. They were armed and formed a tight circle around us. Just as Barbossa started to assure Sao Feng of our honorable intentions something sprang up from the floorboards. I grabbed them and looked at them in surprise. Normally, I'm not very good at catching things. But there I was, holding a sword in each hand. Elizabeth and Barbossa were also clutching swords and our intentions didn't look quite so honorable now. I realized, probably a fairly long time after Elizabeth and Barbossa, that the swords has come from the crew beneath us who had realized things weren't exactly going well. Sao Feng grabbed one of his own men. The man looked terrified.

"Drop you're weapons," Sao Feng threatened. "Or I kill your man!"

There was a long silence. I studied said man. He didn't look familiar in any way and he certainly hadn't been with us last time I checked. Barbossa gave a shrug. "Alright, kill him. He's not our man."

Sao Feng frowned. For once everyone in that room was thinking the same thing. Only Will chose to voice that universal thought, "If he's not with you… and he's not with us… who's he with?"

There was a silence that lasted only a few short seconds and then the East India Trading Company came bursting in. Everything around us was plunged into confusion and chaos. The air was full of gun powder and the ring of swords clashing against swords. Everyone was fighting someone, but nobody really knew who or why. I'd like to say that against the East India Trading Company every pirate in the building fought united against them, but that would be a lie. It was every pirate for them self.

In a battle with three sides it's hard to know where to start. I lost track of everyone else as I engaged in a fight with a Redcoat. Cannons and explosives were being used by the Company and the bathhouse was beginning to collapse. The gunshots and cannon blasts were deafening as I fought my way out. A sword came dangerously close to my neck, but the man it belonged to dropped his guard for a second on realizing I was a woman. I kicked him and he went flying backwards.

The fight had now spilled out onto the street and quite a lot of the wooden buildings in Singapore had caught fire. I winced as someone nearby was hit on the side of their head by a bullet and I was splattered with blood. I caught a brief glance of Tia in the shadows before I had to defend myself again. I saw the sword fly at me from the corner of my eye. I blocked it and turned to face whoever was attacking me. Our eyes met. I froze.

It was George.

His green eyes widened in surprise and shock when he saw who I was. His lips moved silently. Barbossa's gruff voice shouted to me over the rabble. George's eyes flickered to him then back to me. I could see pain written over his face. This was the first time he had seen any of us fighting as pirates and you could see the enormity of it hit him. We were no longer on the same side. I lowered my sword and stepped back feeling inexplicably guilty. I turned away from him and ran to Barossa and Elizabeth. The three of us disappeared into the gloom.

"What was that about?" Elizabeth asked as we swiftly made our way to the docks.

"That was George," I sighed. She blinked at me in surprise, but our conversation was cut short as we met Will. He was holding the Charts and, it transpired he had also got a ship, a crew and convinced Sao Feng to cover our escape. If anyone was suspicious by Sao Feng's change of heart nobody asked. There wasn't the time for questions.

The _Hai Peng_ was the ship Sao Feng had given us. His crew set about preparing her to sail immediately. I looked around for my friends and did a quick head count. Elizabeth was talking to Tia at the rail, Barossa was at the helm with Will and the rest were trying as beast they could to help aboard the _Hai Peng_. It seemed that we had all survived.

My heart felt lighter that it had in a very long time because now we were close. Now we had the Charts and a ship. Now we were on our way to World's End. And Jack.


	4. The Ice Passage

**nineteennitytwo: You'll have to wait and see what becomes of George. I'll tell you now that he may cause a few problems in the not so distant future.**

**callieandjack: Yay! I miss Jack when he's not around!**

**Nelle07: Yay! Partay!!!! Now all we have to do is, er, get there!**

**keiraliz: He does have very bad luck. I think DMC is the worst for Willabeth depressingness because of the "Sparrabeth" almost bits and Jack and Liz's snoggle at the end and poor Will sees them and... oh, his face! It's so sad!**

**klutzygal12: Rubbish, that's what.**

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: George is a friend of Izzy, Will and Elizabeth, but he just pops up every now and then.**

**SaveroftheSun: Mayday! Mayday! Breaking news just in!! Saver's fallen on the floor! *helps you up* In other news... I'm not bald, don't worry! **

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: Oh, I'm petty sure nobody wants to watch Sao Feng scenes with you! Someone would die! Arg! It takes so long to get to World's End. I'm bouncing up and down in my seat like "HURRY UP!"  
**

* * *

My feelings of hope and peacefulness were short lived. They soon dissolved into restlessness and boredom. It didn't take long for us to fall into the same monotonous routine. Days turned into weeks and the weeks added up to a month and the only change was in the weather. It was getting colder.

It was good to be doing something constructive to help Jack and it was comforting to know that every day we were getting closer and closer, but every day was the same as the one before it and identical to the one that would follow. Because time seemed to be moving so slowly and everything was changing gradually I can't pinpoint an exact moment or day when it got so cold there were lumps of ice floating in the water. The chunks got bigger as the days went on until they were taller than the ship itself. According to the Charts we were now in the Ice Passage and frostbite was beginning to set in.

If the weather was cold outside it was nothing compared to the atmosphere between Will and Elizabeth. No matter what Elizabeth said when I asked her it wasn't down to them being 'preoccupied'. There was defiantly something going on between them. They weren't talking. Usually it was a struggle to get them away from each other, but now neither of them would so much as look at the other. An outsider would think they were complete strangers, but they weren't. They were _engaged_. Elizabeth grew ever quieter and Will became more sullen and disengaged with everyone around him. I had given up asking them if they were alright because the answer was always the same resounding 'fine'. They didn't look fine and they certainly weren't acting it. I wasn't surprised that Will avoided my questions, but I had expected something from Elizabeth. She and I had always told each other everything and yet she was hiding something from me now. Something that clearly made her unhappy. What on Earth couldn't she tell _me_?

That was how I found myself so utterly and completely bored, my two best friends were miserable and they refused to talk about it. In contrast, Barbossa seemed to be in no hurry whatsoever. I think he was secretly enjoying himself. Even when it was so cold one of Sao Feng's men lost a toe to frostbite. It came off with a sickening crack. I winced away from him as I saw a flash of raw, red inside. Frozen blood and flesh, black around the outside.

Pintel moaned about the cold. Ragetti shivered beside me. I had found them to be the best, albeit slightly mad, cure for my boredom. Ragetti was more reasonable towards the freezing temperature. "I'm sure there's a good reason for our suffering," he said as his teeth clapped together.

"Why don't that Obey woman just bring Jack back the way she did Barbossa?" Pintel asked bitterly.

"Because Barbossa was only dead," Tia appeared as if from nowhere as if she knew we'd been talking about her. She looked at us, her brown eyes held a fierce fire in them. "Jack Sparrow is taken… in body and soul. The worst punishment a man can bring upon himself. Stretching on forever… That's what awaits you at Davy Jones Locker."

"I knew there'd be a good reason," Ragetti muttered as she walked off.

Hot tears spilled down my frozen cheeks. They ran down my face and froze before they could reach the bottom of my hood. Why had Tia had to say that? The one subject I'd always made a point to avoid and it had come into conversation so suddenly it had completely caught me off guard. I didn't want to know what went on in the Locker. It haunted my nightmares frequently I didn't want it plaguing my waking hours as well. I didn't want to think about Jack in pain, pain that stretched on forever. Torture. His own personal hell.

I clamped my eyes tightly shut as if my lids could block those images from my mind. Of course, it didn't work. I thought it might, at least stop the flow of tears, but they managed to squeeze out from under my eye lids. I felt someone's hand cover my own. I opened my eyes to see Ragetti's hand was resting lightly on mine. His brow was creased in a worried frown. This act of compassion was so unusually sweet of him I couldn't help but smile at him and stop crying.

A few minutes later. Will strode past us muttering something under his breath over an over. Had I not been worried enough about him? I forgot my own troubles and stood up to follow my friend.

"Will!" I called to him. "Will what's wrong?"

He glanced at me, but continued his furious muttering until he reached Barbossa where he handed him the open Charts. "Care to interpret, Captain Barbossa?"

I strained to see what Will was so worked up about. '_Over the edge, over again'_ was written along with _'Sunrise sets, flash of green'_. I had to admit, they were pretty confusing. Barbossa didn't seem thrown by them. To answer Will, he spoke to Mr. Gibbs, "Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?"

Gibbs turned to face us. He had that look in his eye and the air of importance around him that can only mean he had a story to tell. "Aye, I recon I've seen my share. Happens on rare occasions, at the last glimpse of sunset a green flash shoots up into the air. Some go their whole live without seeing it, some claim to have seen it who ait. Some say-"

"It signals when a soul comes back from the dead!" said Pintel excitedly, interrupting Gibbs in full flow. Gibbs didn't look best pleased.

"It's not getting to the Land of the Dead that's the problem," Barbossa informed us. "It's getting back."

He grinned manically at us and I have to say, it wasn't all that comforting.

***

After emerging form a tunnel made completely of ice we found that there was no more ice left. By nightfall the seas were completely empty and ice-free. They were flat and it looked more like we were sailing across a giant mirror than the sea. I looked down at the stars reflected in the water.

"Hello," said a soft voice. I looked up. It was Elizabeth. How unusual. I wondered if she was ready to talk.

"Hey," I replied, deciding to let her take the conversation wherever she wanted for the time being.

"We can't be far away now," she said, looking out across the water.

"I know!" I said and I smiled. She looked at me in surprise.

"I haven't seen you smile for ages…" she said. "Not since…."

She left it hanging because we both knew what she meant. I nodded. This time I decided not to close up. Elizabeth was the one person who could know why Jack had stayed on the _Pearl_. I had been over and over it in my mind, but I could figure out _why_. "You spoke to Jack last," I cut to the point. She sighed.

"Izzy, we've been over this!"

"I know, but… it doesn't seem right? Why would he stay behind when we had a chance?"

Elizabeth wouldn't look me in the eye. It must be because she knew I was right. "His honest streak, like Gibbs said," she offered. I raised an eyebrow.

"Does he have on of those? I'm not sure a streak is big enough for that kind of sacrifice." I said. Part if it was a lie. I knew he was, generally speaking, an honest man…sometimes, but I remembered when he got that Black Spot. I had been the first and only person he'd told. I'd seen him in a weak moment of vulnerability. He had been desperate to survive. Even when the Kraken attacked the _Pearl _he had taken a boat and tried to save himself. _Why_ did he suddenly give up? Why, after all his efforts and determination to stay alive did he return to the _Pearl _and just _give up_? None of it made any kind of sense. Elizabeth was looking at me. She looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn't quite sure how to put it.

"What did he say?" I asked. "What were his exact words?"

She shifted uncomfortably and looked away. "I don't know… I can't remember _exactly_. He just said he wanted to give us a chance."

I sighed. That was her reply every time.


	5. Over the Edge

**ninteennintytwo: She'll probably go mad.**

**callieandjack: It takes long enough for everyone to find out! Silly Lizzie!**

**SaveroftheSun: Ah, cats. Mine would have just stared at me too! *gasp!* How did you guess they're going over the edge? You must be magic!**

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: Good, I'm glad you like Izzy. The story would kinda suck if you didn't!  
**

**Keiraliz: I totally agree. Willabeth woop woop! When the toe thing happened my friend was like "OMG!" and covered her eyes. Normal people just laughed.**

**Nell07: YAY! Woop Woop!**

**klutzygal12: I like her up to a point...**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: Barbossa makes me laugh!Silly Elizabeth, making poor Will unhappy! Nobody'll watch the 2nd one with me coz I insist on watching a bit of the third one too!**

**bmdrose: :D She'll flip like a pancake! **

**Fairy Skull: Save the Pirate Save the World. That's such a good motto!**

* * *

"Isabel."

My head snapped up from where I'd been staring into the dark waters below. Will's eyes met mine. He had given me a fright. It had been peaceful and quiet since Elizabeth had withdrawn back into her guarded shell and left my company.

"Hi, Will."

"What was Elizabeth talking to you about?" he asked, joining me and gazing into the waters. That seemed to be all anyone could do during conversations that weren't going to be what you'd call lighthearted.

"Nothing much," I replied. I took a deep breath. "What's going on between you two?"

There, I had asked and if he denied that anything was wrong I was going to have to kill someone. He looked like he was about to deny it, but something in his eyes, something buried deep inside him collapsed before he could say anything.

"I wish I knew," he said and his voice cracked. My heart immediately went out to him. I put an arm around him. Being a typical man he looked as if he was going to shy away, but after a second of thought he moved closer. I wondered if he was going to cry and what I would do if he did. I'd never had to deal with anything like that before. Not with Will, anyway.

"She hasn't said anything?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No."

Will looked really angry about something. I could feel him physically shaking. His jaw clenched and he spoke through gritted teeth. "I was hoping you knew… if it had…but…" he sighed. "Why would you?"

"Have you tried talking to her?" I asked. He shook his head. "Well, maybe you should," I said gently. "Talk to her about whatever it was you fell out over. I'm sure she's just as anxious to make up as you are."

"I doubt that," his voice shook. I sighed, not out of exasperation, but pity. I wondered what he had done to make Elizabeth push him away enough that he doubted they would ever make up.

"I'm sure that's not true, Will," I said. "You're _engaged_. She loves you."

I thought that assuring him of that would make things better, but it didn't. It made him worse. "I'm beginning to doubt that too," he replied. My mouth dropped open in shock. What was he talking about? How could he doubt that?

"Don't say that Will!" I said fiercely, puling him into a tight hug. "I know she does!"

His breath tickled my ear as he gave a heavy sigh, "I just want to make things right again."

I let him go. "Then talk to her," I urged. "That's the only way you can sort things out. You can't do anything if you're not even talking!"

He looked at doubtfully at me. I gave him an encouraging smile and he nodded. He glanced to where Elizabeth was standing at the helm.

"Now?" he asked.

"Now," I nodded. He hesitated, and then slowly walked towards Elizabeth. I tried not to watch, honestly I did, but… curiosity got the better of me. Not that there was much to watch. He said something; she looked up and walked away without a word. I studied her expression, searching for a clue. She didn't look angry with him. She just looked… sad… but that wasn't all. There was something else; some other emotion was haunting her features. I watched Will, he sighed. I wondered whether or not to go over, but I decided that for the moment it was best to leave them both be.

It was as I came to thins conclusion that a strange sound reached my ears. I wondered if that strange rushing sound had always been there and I had not noticed or if it was a new sound in the silence. It didn't worry me. Until I saw Will's face. He had heard it too. One look at his panic-stricken face as he ran towards Barbossa was enough to make me nervous.

"Aye, we're good and lost now," was Barbossa's worryingly calm reply to Will's attempt to draw his attention to what ever was making that noise.

"Lost?" Elizabeth repeated.

"To be sure you have to be lost to find a place as cannot be found. Else ways, everyone'd know where it was," Barbossa replied, his calm smile widening to a grin. Will and I exchanged a look. My eyes shifted to the sea. The rushing sound was getting louder. It was now more like a roar. Like the sound of a lot of water moving very quickly.

"Waterfall," Elizabeth breathed. "It's a giant waterfall."

We had reached the end of the world.

The ship was gathering speed. The eyes of everyone on board turned to Barbossa, but he just stood there smiling at us. It may sound pleasant, but trust me, it's not. When Barbossa smiles it isn't the most comforting thing in the world.

"To stations, all hands!" Will shouted taking charge as usual, but no sooner had the words left his mouth did Barbossa cry out for us to ignore them. As he was Captain, what choice did we have? I heard him laugh which was even less comforting than his smile.

I ran to the edge, like so many others around me, to see how far away we were from the end of the world. Not far. And the fast moving water was causing the _Hai Peng_ to gather speed. Some of the crew had chosen to ignore Barbossa's words and were trying to save us. The deck was thrown into chaos and pandemonium. The situation was too desperate for anything to save us now. We were past the point where salvation was possible. Everyone ran around trying to find soething solid to cling to in the vain hope that it would give them a chance of survival.

The sound of the water drowned out any screams or crashes that may have been heard emitting from anyone on board. I prayed that somehow this twist of fate would bring me closer to Jack. I clung to the ships rail as it tipped. It seemed to take an age to fall over. We were hanging there at the top for what felt like the longest second of my life. Then we were over, spinning through the air as we plummeted down. I longed for the fall to be over, yet I dreaded the end. I couldn't think properly. Blood was pounding in my ears loud enough to drown out the crash of the water. I was going to be sick. We kept falling down and down into the dark unknown, spinning faster and faster. And then it was over.


	6. At World's End

**Hello!!!!! Isn't this exciting?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? We're at world's end!!!! Welcome! Clean you're shoes before you join us!**

**ninteennintytwo:You'll find out now!**

**bmdrose: I heart pancakes!**

**keiraliz: Tis very bright that bit, it sort of hurts. **

**Nelle07: Now we're so close he's here!!!**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: Yes, yes he is!!!! *squee***

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: She will know exactly how it happened, but not just yet.**

**klutzgal12: THEY'RE HERE!!!!!**

**SaveroftheSun: Look down the back of the sofa... that's where my train of thoughts go!**

**Fairy Skull: Lol. Hopefully she'll only be able to see one of the Jacks!**

* * *

The boat smashed around me and my eyes and ears filled with water. I think I may have blacked out for a few seconds, but I can't be sure. I struggled to the surface and could feel water pounding on the surface. A strong current propelled me along as my head broke the surface. I blinked in the sudden light. I wondered briefly why it was sunny, but nothing in this place surprised me anymore. Everyone else around me was splashing through the water and the wood and debris from the wrecked _Hai Peng _towards a distant shoreline. My heart lifted when I saw it. Was this it? Were we finally at World's End?

I swam to the shore, too excited to be tired from all the swimming. The white sands gleamed in the sun as I scrambled out of the waves. I looked around, we were all here, we were wet, cold and bedraggled, but we were here safe and sound. Now where was Jack?

The white sands were empty.

Empty.

He wasn't here.

No one was. I had expected the Locker to be full of people, but we were the only ones here. Maybe this wasn't World's End at all. Maybe this was just another obstacle to overcome. Beside me, Gibbs muttered something, but I was too disappointed to take in what it was.

"I don't see Jack," I said desperately.

"I don't see anyone," commented Elizabeth

"He's here," Barbossa assured us. "Davy Jones never once gave back what he took."

Will was glaring at Barbossa and blaming him for us being trapped here. Tia smiled serenely at me when she saw I was staring at the small white crab she was holding and the several others that were by her feet. "Witty Jack may be closer than you think."

Her eyes shifted to one of the high dunes that rose up in front of us. I followed her gaze and had to do a double take. A mast was poking out of the top of it. And it was moving towards us. A silence fell over the beach as we stared at it. As more came into view I saw the sails and I think I stopped breathing. They were black. It was the _Pearl_.

I didn't let myself celebrate just yet. Not even when she came crashing down the sand dune and into the sea carried by a mountain of crabs similar to the one Tia was holding. It just goes to show that I'd been through so much I barley blinked at the mountain of crabs. Among the madness of the past month or so it seemed almost normal. Almost. The _Pearl_ was here and Jack…?

I kept my eyes fixed on the _Pearl_. Everyone on the beach waited with bated breath. Then my heart flew into my mouth.

_**HE WAS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**__**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_

I could swear my heart actually stopped and I'm almost positive I hadn't been breathing since the _Pearl _had appeared. I blinked several times just to make sure that the figure trudging up the beach towards us was real. It was!!!! The shocked silence around me was shattered as I let out a pathetic little squeal. Then all hell broke loose. The crew started shouting at him and running towards him. I don't know what we were all so shocked about. We knew why we were coming here. I started to run along with the crew, but something stopped me. Someone had grabbed my arm. I turned in annoyance to see that it was Elizabeth.

"What?" I asked irritably. She was chewing on her bottom lip, so I knew that something was bothering her.

"We need to talk," she said. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. _Now?_ Now she wanted to talk to me.

"Can it not wait?" I asked a little incredulously.

"No," she said in hushed tones. I don't know what she was being so secretive about. In case she hadn't noticed everyone had slightly more important things to worry about than eavesdropping on a conversation between me and Elizabeth. "I _need_ to talk to you and it needs to be _now_."

I pulled my arm free of her grip and stared at her. What was wrong with the world? "Elizabeth," I said slowly. "It can wait!"

I turned back to where the crew had now caught up with Jack. Any hopes I may have had of being the first to reach him were now out of the window completely thanks to Elizabeth. Jack didn't look all that happy, but I suppose he had a right to be upset. He was, after all, dead. He was shouting at Gibbs who looked completely baffled.

"Captain," Gibbs tried explaining. "You're in the Locker."

A look of fear flitted briefly over Jack's face, but he covered it up again pretty quickly. "I know where I am!" he said sharply. "And don't you think that I don't!"

"Jack Sparrow," Barbossa stepped forward. To my surprise, Jack's face lit up with delight.

"Hector!" he exclaimed, striding over. Hector? It hadn't even occurred to me that Barbossa had a first name. Hector Barbossa? That didn't sound right. I would have laughed, but I was too busy worrying about Jack. Why was he smiling at… er, Hector? He hated the man! Yet here he was proclaiming that it had been to long.

"Isle de Meurta," Barbossa reminded him. "You shot me, remember?"

Another look crossed Jack's face, but it quickly vanished, "No I didn't."

He spotted Tia and started babbling away to her. He didn't remember the Isla de Meurta. Did that mean he didn't remember me? My heart seemed to have started again, but it was making a nuisance of itself by pounding louder than a military drum.

"He thinks we're a hallucination," Will said, distracting Jack from a confused Tia. Jack crossed over to him. I found myself holding my breath. If he remembered Will things were looking up.

"Let me ask you something, William," he said. _YES, he remembered Will!_ "Have you come because you need my help in rescuing a distressing damsel? Or rather a damsel in distress, either one?"

"No," said Will truthfully.

"Then you wouldn't be here, would you? QED, you're not really here!" he waved his hands at Will as if that would make him go away. Unsurprisingly, it didn't.

"Jack," I said without really meaning to. At the sound of my voice his head turned and his eyes met mine. I had forgotten how dark and deep they were. They caught me off guard every time. I got the vague sense of falling that I got every tie I saw those dark brown eyes. I can't saw how much time passed. It could have been a heartbeat or it could have been a year. Then Elizabeth spoke and his eyes slid past me to Elizabeth. He visibly paled. He scuttled back over to Gibbs. They had a hushed conversation.

"We've come to rescue you!" Elizabeth said loudly.

"Have you now?" he said. "Well, that's very kind of you, but seeing as _I_ posses a ship and you don't, it seems _you're_ the ones in need of rescuing. And I'm not sure as I'm in the mood…"

"I see my ship, over there," Barbossa pointed to where the _Pearl_ was floating just offshore. Jack pretended he didn't know what Barbossa was talking about.

"Can't spot it," he said. "Must be a tiny little thing hiding somewhere behind the _Pearl_."

Barbossa sighed and looked like he was about to argue back, but Will had had enough. He barged between them. "Jack, Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones! He controls the _Flying Dutchman_!"

"He's taking over the seas," Elizabeth butted in.

"The song has already been sung. The Brethren Court is called," Tia added. Should we have been overwhelming him with all this information? Probably not.

"I leave you people alone for five minutes and the whole world's gone to pot!" Jack declared, walking away from them all. He didn't know how true his words were. Gibbs said something to that effect, but it didn't look like he was going to turn around anytime soon.

"You need a crew!" Will pointed out.

Then he turned. "Why shout I sail with any of you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past…one of you succeeded."

And he looked directly at Elizabeth.


	7. The Truth Comes Out

**Here it is everyone! I don't like it all that much, but I've worked it and reworked and reworked it and nothing can be done. I give up, so here you go. Oh, and who do you reckon would win a fight between Belle and Lizzie? I LOBE you all!**

**nineteennitytwo: Erm, both. :S**

**SaveroftheSun: You have been updating a lot, my little update monkey! But not A Long Road Taken! Bad Update Monkey! Bad! I tried to review, but it went all spammy. I hope my last one worked!**

**bmdrose: Yup, indeedy!**

**callieandjack: Tis Lizzie's own fault really. She shouldn't be such a Universal Spam!**

**ValueMyHeart: Yup, she is and Belle's gonna hate her for it!**

**Fairy Skull: 'The monkey has been let out of the cage' I liked that expression!**

**Nelle07: She's like a ragey thing on rage tablets!**

**keiraliz: Bing bang bong indeedy! Fanfic's been weird on me too! IT'S A CONSPIRACY!! ARG! Anyway... I'm not sure if hearing it from Liz would have made it all that much better tbh!**

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: Hector! lol! He doesn't really look like a Hector! Sorry! I hope this was quick enough! (Don't eat me!)**

**klutzygal12: You and Belle can start a club!  
**

_

* * *

Elizabeth?_

Why was he looking at Elizabeth? I stared at her. I saw the guilt etched into her features and then I knew. I knew, but I couldn't believe it. _She_ had _killed_ Jack.

How?

_**Why?**_

Why would she do that? Why would she?

"Oh," Jack sounded amused. "She hasn't told you? Well, you'll have lots to talk about while you're here then."

She glanced nervously at me. Our eyes met and something inside me snapped. My shock was immediately replaced by a blinding rage. It snapped so loudly I was sure everyone on the beach heard it. Seeing as a few of them took a step back, they probably did. Elizabeth tried to say something, but I couldn't hear it over the snarl that had suddenly erupted from the back of my throat.

"HOW COULD YOU?!!" someone was shouting at her. They sounded almost hysterical. It took me a minute to realize it was me. Good, I was glad I was. I should be. She blinked and took a step backwards. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!?! YOU KILLED HIM?!? YOU LET ME BLAME EVERYONE ELSE, YOU LET ME BLAME MYSELF? AND IT WAS _YOU _ALL ALONG?!!!! ALL THIS TIME YOU'VE BEEN LYING!!! YOU **BITCH**!!!" I had reached her in a few short strides. My fist came into contact with her jaw. I was surprised with myself, but I wasn't sorry. In fact I was glad to see my other fist was raised and clenched. Hot, angry tears were spilling down my face and I was shaking uncontrollably. Someone caught my arm and I felt an arm slide around my waist. As I was pulled backwards Jack's voice tickled my ear.

"Alright, love," he said. "It's alright, darlin', you're coming with me."

I turned to look at him and I forgot I was angry. I forgot everything except him for those few seconds where he smiled at me. Then he looked away and I remembered. He started counting down the crew deciding who could and couldn't come. I was too busy seething with rage and counting the number of ways I could make Elizabeth pay for what she'd done. I'd gotten to seventeen by the time Jack had gotten to Tia Huang and his men.

"Who are you?" Jack asked, noticing them for the first time.

"Tia Huang," said Tia Huang. "And theses are my men."

Jack nodded, "And where do your allegiances lie?"

"With the highest bidder."

"I have a ship," Jack offered. Tia Huang smiled.

"That makes you the highest bidder."

"Good man," Jack nodded. Tia Huang and his men splashed through the waves towards the _Pearl_ with Jack's crew. I didn't even try to hide my smile at Elizabeth being left behind. I was sorry to see Will among those being left and I wouldn't have minded Pintel or Ragetti joining us, but beggars can't be choosers. Jack let go of me, purposefully ignored the rejected crew members and pulled out his compass. He stared down at it. I glanced at Barbossa who was looking strangely smug given his situation. Jack sighed crossly, with a odd look on his face and snapped the compass shut.

"Not working," he mumbled and the reason behind Barbossa's smug expression became all too clear.

"Where ye goin' Jack?" he asked, waving the Charts under his nose. I heard Jack curse under his breath. He sighed, knowing he had no choice but to let them aboard. They knew it too. As the others began to walk away Jack turned to me.

There was a long moment where we just stared at each other. _'He's here,' _I kept telling myself, '_this is real. He really is back.'_ It seemed so hard to believe that it was actually him standing before me and not another dream. He took a step towards me and I suddenly dissolved into tears. He looked a bit alarmed and took another step towards me.

"That bad to have me back, eh?" he chuckled. I shook my head.

"No…" I was crying so hard it was difficult to speak. It was ridiculous that I should be this teary now that he was here. I wasn't upset, my tears were happy ones… if tears can be happy… which I'd pretty sure that normal people's can't. I was just so happy to see him! There was so much I wanted to say. There was one thing I wanted to say more than anything else, but as I looked into his eyes and got that sense of falling I just knew that I never could. "I'm sorry…"

I settled for the second hardest thing to talk about instead. This confused him, "What for?"

Where did I start? "Before you… died… I said some… things I-I didn't mean and…. I know you didn't…"

He reached out and put a finger lightly on my lips. I stopped talking at once. Not because he had his finger on my lip, I'm pretty certain that I could have talked if I wanted to, but I didn't want to. I didn't trust myself enough to open my mouth. His other hand reached out and gently wiped a tear away from my cheek. I closed my eyes at his touch. It was real. _He_ was real. I could feel his hand as it gently slid from my cheek to my neck. He lifted his finger from my lips and put his hand on the small of my back. He pulled me towards him. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging the warmth and solidity of his body tightly to mine. I rested my chin on his shoulder.

He was real.

He was here.

* * *


	8. Betrayal

**nineteennitytwo: Yeah and Izzy still doesn't know it all...yet!**

**klutzygal12: Aww, yeah, took a while!**

**ValueMyHeart: Don't cry! Just think about a decked Elizabeth!**

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: Thanks, I though you were going to say the emotional bit was terribly written. Ta for the thoughts thing, you're right. I changed it.**

**kerializ: God knows what number she's at! Yeah, it's very temporary!**

**Fairy Skull: lol! Thanks!**

**callieandjack: Who knows... well, I do, but I'm not telling!**

**Nelle07: Part-ay!!!!!!!! Woooop Woop!**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: The Wrath of the Fangirls! That should totally be a horror film!**

* * *

It was nice to be back on the _Pearl_. And it was even nicer to be with her proper Captain. I turned and smiled at him. He smiled back and my heart felt like it was doing back flips out of my mouth. I'd almost forgotten the brilliance of that smile. "Wave goodbye to the Locker Jack," I told him as it shrank away. We'd been watching it shrink for at least ten minutes.

"Good riddance," he said cheerfully. There was a short silence.

"Who's at the helm Captaining?" I asked, realizing that the Captain of the ship I was on was standing beside me.

"Me, of course," Jack rolled his eyes at my stupidity.

"But you're here," I said, "Not at the helm."

"Oh," he looked down as if to check that he was, in fact, here and not at the helm. "So I am." We both turned to look at the wheel. Barbossa was standing at the helm of the _Pearl_ like he owned the ship. Jack glowered at him and stomped off. I was only alone for a few seconds before Will suddenly appeared beside me.

"Did you know?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Did my outburst sound like it came from someone in the know?" I raised an eyebrow. My attempt to lighten the mood fell flat. "Did you know?"

"No." he snapped. "Where is she?" I shrugged.

"Don't know, don't care," I replied flippantly. He sighed and then he too stomped off. There seemed to be an awful lot of stomping going on recently. Will had out a bit of a damper on my mood. He'd made me think about stupid, treacherous Elizabeth and her stupid, treacherous ways. Will had looked suitably cross.

"It's not big enough!" I jumped at the interruption and came face to face with Jack.

"What?"

"It's not big enough," he repeated. I couldn't for the life of me think what he was on about.

"What's not big enough?"

"My telescope," he replied crossly. "It's not big enough! Even Barbossa has a bigger one than me!"

"You are such a child!" I half laughed half sighed. "I think there's a huge one in the galley, do you want me to go and get it?"

"Yes!" he said brightening up immediately.

"Right, wait here," I called over my shoulder as I walked over to the galley. Elizabeth was sitting on the stairs looking miserable. _Good._ She gave a start as I walked past, but I ignored her.

When I was out of her sight I smiled at the familiar interior of the _Pearl_. It felt so… homely. The lid of the trunk clicked as I heaved it open. I sneezed as the cloud of dust that rose up found its way into my nose. _'Does nobody clean around here?'_ I thought. I tried to imagine Jack or any of the others for that matter doing any cleaning and I almost laughed out loud. I lifted out the huge telescope that was buried at the bottom of the pile of rubbish in the trunk. It really was ridiculously huge. Why would anyone want anything that big? It was no use to anyone whatsoever. And it was heavy. I struggled over to the stairs where Elizabeth was still sitting, but Will got there first.

"You left Jack to the Kraken?" he stated. She sighed and continued looking miserable and pathetically sorry for herself.

"Jack's rescued now, it's done with," she said, barely looking at him. He turned away from her. She stood up. "Will I had no choice!"

_'You bloody DID have a choice,'_ I seethed silently.

"You chose not to tell me," he said coldly. _That was all he was angry about? What about the fact someone died?_

"I couldn't!" she said desperately. "It wasn't you're burden to bare!"

"Only I did bare it, didn't I?" Will gulped. "Only I didn't know what it was." He turned to her and saw me standing in the shadows, "I thought-"

"You thought I loved him," said Elizabeth quietly.

"And what would give him reason to think that?" I asked, my voice equally as quiet, but I noted it held a harsher quality. She whipped round, her eyes wide. There was a long silence during which she gaped at me.

"Tell her," said Will. In her defence, I think she tried. But no comprehendible words came out no matter how hard she tried. Will had a malicious light in his eyes, which was very unlike him, but I suppose he had every right to have it there. "Go on Elizabeth, it' best she hears it from you're lips."

"I… I… Isabel… I…" she tripped and stumbled over her words.

"She kissed him," Will said. "To tie Jack to the mast, she kissed him."

I thought that would feel something, anything, but I was numb. I expected, as did the others, another outburst equal to the one on the beach, but I didn't have the strength. I knew what Will had said, I had heard him clear enough, but it didn't feel real. Elizabeth was trying to talk to me, but my feet were carrying me away from her. They were heavy, my limbs felt like lead. I found myself on deck, blinking in the sun. Someone said something to me, but I couldn't comprehend it through the fog in my brain. The telescope was prised from my hands. It was only when their laughter faded to nothing did I realize that they were laughing at all.

"Belle?" his voice sounded muffled, but recognisable all the same. I lifted my eyes. Jack. He said something. I saw his lips moving, but all I could focus on was the knowledge that Elizabeth had kissed them. I backed away from him, trying and failing to look away, to think about something else. Needless to say I failed. He was frowning, a look of genuine concern in his eyes. He reached out towards me. I turned away from him, I knew that the fog and confusion would give way to anger given time and it would be better if I was on my own. He caught up with me. He was talking, but the only thing that registered with me was my name. He propelled me by the elbows towards the Captain's Cabin.

He opened the door and with his hand between my shoulder blades he pushed me inside. The door closed and he spun me round to face him. The anger was bubbling up and dissolving the fog. I could hear him better now, he wasn't as muffled, "What's wrong, love?"

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out for a long time, "You…"

That was all I could manage before Gibbs came bashing through the door. "Capt'n, Barbossa says-" he saw me. "Oh. Sorry. Jack, you're needed."

Jack looked from Gibbs to me and back again. "I'll be back, Belle. Wait here."

He ran out, Gibbs talking hurriedly to him. In the silence all I could hear was my breathing, it was getting louder. I knew I had to get out. I looked down at my hand. It was shaking.

Questions were running through my mind.

_Did he __kiss her back? _

My trembling hands found a bottle. I sent it smashing to the floor. It felt good to hear it smash around my feet.

_How did he feel about it?_

I dragged my hands across the table. Maps and charts and extinguished candles joined the shards of glass on the floor.

_How did he feel about Elizabeth?_

The chair crashed to the floor.

_How could she do that? She knew how I felt!_

Six empty bottles of rum lined up on the floor crashed against the wall one at a time. I reached for the seventh one and the door opened. Jack. He was blurry. I didn't know I'd been crying. His eyes took in the mess. Ooops.


	9. The Last Bottle Smashes

**Nelle07: Lol, she's a bit of a psycho!**

**nineteennintytwo: Lol, you really don't like lizzie! Ha ha! You shall have to find out about James! **

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: Thank you. It did worry me at first then I saw the well and I was smiling for days because you're so lovely! **

**keiraliz: lol, I love you're rants! Always eat a big lunch! They do have suckish lives, that kinda sucks for them! It'll get better-ish though.**

**klutzygal12: Um, maybe. Finger's crossed. Towards the end perhaps? Maybe.**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: Yeah, we should book her a class with a theropist or something. **

**Fairy Skull: Lol. It's all broken.**

**SaveroftheSun: I would never try and kick you, honest! #smiles innocently#**

**callieandjack: Yeah, that could cause some problems.  
**

* * *

The silence dragged on, pressing down on me and making it hard to breathe. The door shutting sounded like a shout in the silence. His eyes scanned the bits of parchment, maps, broken glass, the upturned chair and then they rested on me. He frowned in an almost convincingly concerned way.

"Belle, why are crying?" he asked. I almost laughed. He had walked into his wrecked cabin and wanted to know why _I_ was such a state? His eyes widened as they flickered to my hands, still clutching the empty bottle. "You're bleeding."

He crossed the room quickly, the shards of glass crunched under his boots. He prized the bottle from my shaking hands and took my right hand in his left. He turned it face-up to inspect the damage. I stared at it too. I hadn't even noticed and I couldn't feel the pain. There was something else hurting me more. I pulled my hand away from his and stepped back. I couldn't look him in the eye. He tried to gently turn my face towards him. Again, I stepped back. His frown deepened, "What's wrong?"

'_What's wrong?!'_ I thought, _'there's an awful lot that's wrong! For a start you kissed my best friend… or she kissed you… I'll never really know… and I'll never know how you felt about it, or how you feel about her and the reason this is upsetting me so much is because I'm in love with you, but knowing what I now know I'll never be able to tell you or do anything about it because you won't return the feeling and that will hurt more than anything else I've ever been through ever.'_

But I couldn't exactly say that out loud, could I? So ignored the hysterical thoughts screaming in my head and said, quite calmly, "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

He raised his eye brows disbelievingly. I can't say I blame him, given the amount of evidence that was lying on the floor. I picked up armfuls of glass and threw them away, he righted the chair, but I could still feel him looking at me. "Belle… what's wrong," he asked again. "You can tell me, love."

'_No, no I can't._'

But I didn't say that, a lie slipped out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about it. "I'm just homesick."

'_Homesick? Really?'_

He looked at me like I'd just punched him. As that was something I had done before I was familiar with this look. "What?" he breathed.

"I'm homesick," I repeated. "I really want to go home."

"To Port Royale?"

'_Where? Oh, that place. No, I can't stand Port Royale.'_

"Yes. I miss it."

"But," he blinked at me. "You… you can't, love. You're a pirate. They won't let you go back , you'll be hung."

I raised an eyebrow and hoped I looked suitably bitter and annoyed, "And whose fault is that?" It was a low blow, but it worked. I carried on smoothly. I was on a roll, the lies just tumbling out of my mouth with ease. "James has given Beckett the heart and I assume he got what he wants in return. He'll be able to clear my name and I can go home."

It all sounded so easy when I said it and although it was the exact opposite of what I wanted Jack looked like he was starting to believe me. "You want to go home?"

'_No.' _I thought.

"Yes." I said.

"Why?"

"I don't belong here, Jack. I need to go home when all this is over." I stepped past him and made my way over to the door. He caught my arm and spun me round to face him.

"But what if he can't clear your name?" he looked more than a bit angry with me. "Beckett won't hesitate on sending you to the gallows if you're pirate, love. No matter who you're brother is! Then what'll you do?!"

"Then I shall gladly go," I couldn't look at him, it was just too damn hard. At least my last words were partly true, "Being dead would be better than living like this, in the company of pirates. I am so sick of pirates."

.I felt awful and I wasn't proud of what I'd said. I pulled myself free from his grip. I saw the hurt in his eyes and turned away to hide my own tears. I had heard myself saying the word 'pirate' like James had talked about them. Like they were something disgusting I had found on my shoe. There had been next to no truth in my words, but I knew I had done the right thing. I couldn't be around Jack anymore. I was just going to have to train myself not to love him. I could do that. When this was over I would leave. Once we had got away from World's End I would be gone. I would go to Port Royale and try to find James or George or anyone who could help me. Or I would jump from ship to ship, taking me as far from the _Pearl_ as humanly possible. Anything that kept me away from Jack. Being dead would be better than living like this, living with the one person who I loved, but could never have. Suddenly I understood Davy Jones. It was too much to live with, but not enough to cause me to die. But I wasn't going to cut out my heart. I was going to cut out Jack. Cut him out of my life until I'd forgotten who he was.

As I closed the door I heard the last bottle smash in his hands


	10. Governor Swann

**Hey guys. Updates might not be so often now. I'm back at school today. Booo! So... an update to cheer me up.**

**nineteennitytwo: Sorry!!!! Please don't eat me!!!**

**klutzygal12: OMG! I'm so sorry!! Sorry!!!!!**

**ValueMyHeart: Thank you! Don't worry I will.**

**keiraliz: Izzy's a bit messed up atm, but can you blame her really? **

**Fairy Skull: Super Jack!!! Dun dun dun!!!**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: #hands you a tissue# No, she really can't see it, which is a shame.**

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you sad. **

**Love you all! LV xx  
**

* * *

Life can often be a lonely place to be. Especially when you feel cut off fro those around you, like you don't really exist. Since the age of ten I had been used to that feeling. In an ironic way, it was almost my friend. James had always had to work and so I was left pretty much on my own. I had friends, but they all had families to spend time with. There were people James put in place to look after me, but I soon learned that they only did that when James was around to pay them. Then one day, all of a sudden, after years of doing what I wanted I was expected to act like a lady, just as I had when my parents had been alive. As James moved up in the world I had found myself stranded at various social events. In a roomful of people I had found it surprisingly easy to feel lonely. I had always felt that if I were to just disappear the lives of those around me would not alter terribly much. I doubted any of them would notice or lament my absence. I was invisible.

I had never expected to feel that way on the _Pearl_ among people who knew me so well. I had come to know the _Pearl_ as the one place on earth where I was at home, where I felt like I was with people who valued my opinions, listened to what I had to say no matter how trivial or stupid. Above all, they made me feel… needed.

I couldn't help fading into the background. Elizabeth didn't have the guts to talk to me, nor did Jack, which suited me fine. Will was too troubled for me to even consider bothering him.

Night fell and I had managed to successfully avoid Jack. I hadn't been hard, after emerging from his cabin, he had pretty much stayed at the helm all day, but if he entered a room I was in then I would leave it immediately. Cutting him out would be hard whilst we were in the same place, but, then again, I'd always known that would be the case.

"Izzy!" Ragetti waver cheerily at me from where he was perched on the rail. I forced a smile and walked over to him and Pintel.

"What are you doing?" I asked Ragetti, noticing the thing in his hand.

"Fishing," he replied. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I doubt you'll catch anything."

"You never know…" he said defensively. He looked back into the water. He gave a little noise of surprise that was almost bark like and leapt off the rail. The fishing rod plopped into the water.

"What is it?" I asked, leaning out over the side. Then I saw her. The dead body. She lay on her back, floating beneath the surface of the dark waters, her peaceful face turned skywards. Her hair billowed out behind her in along cloud of blonde. She was pale, but it was not the pale pallor of some of the living. It was the white of the dead. I didn't scream, I felt a bit sad, but it didn't frighten me. She looked too happy and peaceful. I wondered what she was doing so far out at sea, but then I saw the rest of them and I knew she wasn't here by mistake. The sea was full of bodies just like her. They stretched on in both directions, some floated closer to the surface than others, but all looked blissfully peaceful.

"I wonder what would happen if you dropped a cannon ball on one of `em?" said Pintel. He and Ragetti looked at each other. I caught sight of a mischievous gleam in their eyes before they turned away and started giggling like a pair of idiots. Which is good because that is, in fact, what they are. I turned back to sea. Then I caught sight of the baby, which upset me. The poor thing, it had barely had a chance at life and here it was. Dead. I didn't want to thin too much about how it had got here, or why. I couldn't seem to look away. I wished the poor infant well wherever he or she was headed. I wondered if its parents were floating nearby and if one accident had wiped out an entire family, or if it was an accident at all. I was spared having to take this thought any further by the foolish gigglers returning with cannon balls. Ragetti looked up and grinned at me, but then his eyes slid past mine and both he and Pintel dropped their cannon balls. "Be disrespectful it would…" mumbled Pintel. What had the fools seen that had made them, well… not quite so foolish? I turned to find Tia glaring daggers at them.

"They should be in the care of Davy Jones," she said and I got the feeling it wasn't just them she was angry with. "That was the duty him was charged with, by the goddess Calypso, to ferry those who die at sea to the other side… and then once every ten years him could come ashore to be with she who love him… truly." Tia looked away from us. "But the man has become a monster."

I had time to think that it was such a romantic and sad tale before Ragetti ruined it. "So he wasn't always…" he did a rubbish and quite funny impression of someone with tentacles sprouting from their chin.

Obviously Tia didn't find it quite so amusing and I'm not rude enough to actually have laughed. "No," she said sadly. "Him was a man… once."

We stepped up to where she stood. I tried to picture Jones as a man, but it was too hard, so I soon gave up.

"Now there's boats' coming," Ragetti nodded out to sea. There were long rows of rowing boats sailing serenely towards us. They all had lights hanging from the front of them. Gibbs panicked and got ready to shoot them, but Tia and Will stopped them. He lowered his gun when Barbossa told him it was best to let them be. The deck was full of an unusual sound, the sound of silence. It was broken by a delighted gasp. I looked around to see who it had come from. Elizabeth was looking absolutely ecstatic.

_'Killed someone and ruined someone else's life have you?'_ I thought bitterly and immediately regretted it when I saw what she was so happy about.

Governor Swann was sitting in one of the boats.

Elizabeth shouted to him, tried to get his attention. He didn't move from where he was staring fixedly a head of him. He didn't look happy. He didn't look sad either. He just looked blank. He looked the same as ever, but he was pale, as pale as the girl had been.

"Elizabeth," Jack said seriously. "We're not back."

Her bright smile faltered and then vanished. She shouted again panic rising in her voice. Governor Swann turned and blinked at her as if waking from a brilliant, deep day dream. A look of recognition passed across his tired face.

"Elizabeth… are you dead?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No!"

Governor Swann blinked again and gulped, "I think I am…"

Elizabeth was getting really worked up now. "No… no, you can't be!!"

Governor Swann didn't seem too concerned by it. "There was a chest you see… it's odd at the time it seemed so important."

"Come aboard!" Elizabeth shouted to him, not bothered about the heart. She knew about it anyway, but Governor Swann wasn't finished.

"And a heart, I learnt that if you stabbed the heart, yours must take its place and sail the seas for all eternity. _The Dutchman_ must have a Captain." Even though I was doing my best to ignore him I couldn't miss the way Jack shifted at the mention of eternity. Elizabeth's father heaved a sigh, "Silly thing to die for…"

"Someone cast a line!" Elizabeth shouted over her shoulder, growing more worried by the growing distance between her father and us. "Come back with us!" she shouted to her father.

Marty, slightly shocked, tried to untie a rope, but it was quickly snatched from his fingers by Elizabeth. She untied it quickly given how badly her fingers were shaking. She ran to the side and threw it to her father. He didn't take it. A small sad smile twitched at the corner of his mouth.

"I'm so proud of you, Elizabeth," he whispered. I bit my lip.

"Father! Father! Take the line!" Elizabeth screamed to him, refusing to give up on him. The rope slipped from her father's boat and splashed into the water. Elizabeth lunged towards the side of the ship in a desperate attempt to save her father. Tia sprang into action.

"She must not leave the ship!" she ordered. Everyone ran towards her, Will arrived first.

"I'll give your love to your mother, shall I?" Governor Swann turned back around and didn't turn back. Will grabbed Elizabeth into a tight hug. She tried to struggle against him and get to her father, but he held her tight. She stopped struggling and went limp in his arms, sobbing against his chest. A tear slid down my cheek.

"Is there a way?" Will directed a question at Tia over the top of Elizabeth's head.

"Him at peace," Tia shook her head.

The only sound was Elizabeth's sobs. I stepped forward, forgetting everything that had happened and wanting nothing more than to wrap my arms around my friend and try to heal her. I took another step, but I was held back.

"She has Will, love," Jack muttered to me. "She'll need you, but not just now."

In my shock and grief I let Jack lead me away. I forgot my anger at Elizabeth and my promise to cut Jack out. I let him hold me as I shed my tears for Governor Swann. And for that night things felt like they had before everything had been ruined. For that night everything was normal. I was there for Elizabeth when she needed me and for that night we all came together. Elizabeth, Will, Jack and I. Like before.

* * *

**Oh, that didn't cheer me up at all...**


	11. Up Is Down

**Evenin' all! (Well it is for me!) Thanks to everyone who has added this story to their faveourites/alerts list. It means a lot to me that people are actually reading this!  
**

**klutzygal12: No pitchforks allowed! That is the rule here!**

**Fairy Skull: Thank you. **

**kerializ: I feel so sorry for Lizzie when her father dies. And then when Will dies as well. Poor girl!**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: Aww, this chapter's not so depressing!**

**nineteennintytwo: Oh, good question! I have no idea. My friend said she imagined her like Natalie Portman in 'The Other Boleyn Girl', but I dunno. Haven't thought about it. What do you think?**

**callieandjack: Stop crying! #gives you a cyber hug# Feel better!**

**Nelle07: As long as he's there I suppose that's true, eh?**

* * *

The wood was cold and hard underneath me and I was sure I wasn't lying down. It took me a minuet before I realized that I wasn't alone either. There was a very warm pair of arms wrapped around me. I lifted my head from where it was rested on Jack's chest, dislodging his chin from the top of my head. I blinked up at him in the dim light of the morning. The deck around us was pretty much empty bar a few of Tia Huang's men and Barbossa, which confirmed my theory that the man never sleeps. Jack looked down at me; there was an odd look in his eyes. I blamed lack of sleep.

"Mornin', love," he smiled

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"'Bout an hour," I felt him shrug.

"Oh," I said. "Sorry I fell asleep on you."

"That's alright, love." He hugged me closer to him. There was about a minuet of comfortable silence. I could hear the thrum of Jack's heart and feel his chest rising and falling in perfect rhythm. I could hear the water slapping against the hull of the _Pearl _and without the loud cry of gulls to ruin it, it wasn't surprising that I had been lulled to sleep by those sounds. I did wonder why I had fallen asleep on the stairs to the upper deck and not in my own bunk, but then I remembered the Governor.

"Why? Why did he have to die?" I sighed. Jack knew, of course, who I was talking about.

"He knew too much about the heart, I suppose and Beckett didn't want that." I could feel his voice vibrating in his throat.

"He was murdered then," I said out loud what we had all already guessed, but didn't want to admit to. I digested this and then looked back to Jack. "What are we going to do about Beckett? Do you have a plan?"

"Yes," he said and he got a new look in his eye. A light that made me feel uneasy. "I'm going to stab the heart."

I should have guessed it was coming, but I had almost forgotten how he had changed at the mention of sailing the seas for all eternity. In my shock I drew back from him. My hands moved from where they had been wrapped around his waist and I stared at him.

"Stab the heart?" I echoed. The light in his eyes flickered, but wasn't extinguished. "The heart of Davy Jones?"

"Yes, love, I'm going to kill Jones." He smiled at me. "And then I can live forever."

He tried to pull me close again, but I wriggled free of his embrace and stood up. I could fell the look of disgust on my face as stared down at him. He looked a bit taken aback. I was angry for reasons I myself couldn't figure out, but then some of them came tumbling out of my mouth without checking with my brain to see if it was alright to say them, "That's you're plan, then? To live forever like Jones until the next person comes along and stabs your heart? And what about the rest of us, those of us left to fight? And face Beckett without immortality?"

He looked just as cross as I was. "What dose it matter to you? You're going back to Port Royale?"

He said 'Port Royale' with the same disgust that I had said the word 'pirate' the day before in his cabin. It seemed like a lifetime ago. I heaved a sigh; I had to admit to myself that he had got me on that one, but I didn't have to admit it to him.

"That's different!"

"How?" he challenged. It was different because I didn't _want_ to go, I was leaving to save myself the pain, he, on the other hand, _wanted_ to stab the heart. But I needed him to believe I was going of my own free will, not because I was in love with him.

"I don't have anything to keep me here," I said, it was partly true. He rose up to his full height. He didn't look angry anymore, he looked like I had just confirmed something. Something he wasn't too happy about. I only wished I knew what it was.

"Then, neither to I," he said. He looked like he wanted me to say something, daring me almost. I wished I knew what the dare was. I was way out of my depth. I turned and ran down the last few steps onto the lower deck and tried to pretend I couldn't feel his eyes boring into the back of my head. I stomped away, furious with myself for letting him get close again.

The first rays of sun seemed to have evaporated the feelings of warmth and friendliness. Everything went back to being awkward. I didn't want to hate Elizabeth anymore, not after what she'd been through, but there was a big part of me that still resented her for what had happened and I think she knew that. Or maybe she, like me, didn't really know how to act or what to do or say. It took her a long time before she got out of bed that morning, but I am sure she didn't sleep a bit all night. She spent the day sitting on the steps Jack and I had argued on that morning and didn't lift her head form her hands. She didn't even seem to notice the water shortage.

With the _Hai Peng _smashed into a thousand pieces and all her supplies gone with her, we had come aboard the _Pearl_ and found, well, nothing. No water, no food, no rum. It was the no rum that was driving a lot of people crazy. Empty bottles were being furiously shaken as the last drops were coaxed out. The only person who didn't seem bothered that we were all going to die of dehydration was Barbossa. He was, as usual, at the helm, looking pleased about something. What was wrong with him? There was nothing to be pleased about. Jack was looking intently at the Charts and trying to decipher the latest clue 'Up is Down'. Stupid Charts. They were always talking in riddles. It seemed to be driving Jack mad too as he was, quite worryingly, talking to himself. I _think_ I heard my name in whatever conversation he happened to be having, but I ignored him. He was probably complaining about me to himself. As I walked past him he sprang up from his seat so suddenly I almost fell over with shock. He gibbered something at me and ran to the side. Immediately alarmed I ran with him. I looked out; scouring the horizon for whatever it was that had made Jack so skittish. I couldn't see anything. He was causing quite a commotion and even Elizabeth had raised her head from her hands.

"What _is_ that?" said Jack aloud and then, a second later he replied to himself. "I don't know, what do you think?"

Who the bloody hell was he talking to? It certainly wasn't me. Or Gibbs, judging by the worried and slightly confused expression on his weathered face.

"Where?" asked Gibbs.

"There," Jack nodded to a blank spot in the ocean. Everyone leaned over to get a good look at the huge expanse of nothing. Just as they did Jack gave a shout and pelted towards the other side of the ship. He waited until we had caught up with him before he turned and started running again, shouting as he went. What was he seeing? What was wrong with him? I worried for his sanity, but on the fourth or fifth time we ran past Pintel he shouted, "He's rocking the ship!"

A huge smile split Gibb's face. "We're rocking the ship."

'_Has the whole crew gone mad?'_ I thought grumpily as my feet pounded the deck._ 'Is this the effect that no rum is going to have on them? If so I am going to personally make sure that there is always rum on board.'_

Barbossa had now joined in with the madness, it seemed to be contagious, I hoped I wouldn't catch it. He called for the cargo to be cut loose. If we weren't careful then the _Pearl _was going to… tip over. And then up would, in fact, be down. I felt a swell of pride at Jack being able to figure it out, but he spent his life speaking in riddles, so I shouldn't have been that surprised he had managed to catch it. I ran past Pintel and he caught my arm.

"Tie me and Ragetti to the mast," he said. I did a double take.

"Excuse me?"

"Tie me and Ragetti to the mast," he repeated and then, as an after though, "Please."

"Tie yourselves," I said, not very politely.

"We can't, we have to be upside down," said Pintel as if that explained anything.

"Why?" was all I could say.

"So that when the boat flips we'll be the right way up," he explained. I thought about pointing out the flaws in this plan, but then Ragetti arrived grinning like an idiot and I knew it would take longer than we had to explain it. They stood on their hands and I wrapped the rope around them. They couldn't seem to stop laughing at their own genius. It was a difficult job to tie them up as the_ Pearl _was rocking more and more and I could feel the cargo and cannons shifting and rolling around below deck. I managed to tie them and left them to it, knowing it would be me who was called upon to untie them when the plan failed. By now the side of the _Pearl_ was brushing against the waves and we had to cling onto the rain to stop ourselves falling in. Just as we thought she was going to roll under she tipped to the side we were all clinging to and we were off again. I flung myself against the side and felt my feet lift from the deck. We had done it and now all we could do was hope that it was the right thing we had done.

"And now, up is down," Jack said. I looked at him. His confident look changed to a small frown, but then his feet touched the icy waters and he smiled again. I had a second to worry before I took a deep breath and we went under.


	12. Up Is Up

**ninteennitytwo: Yeah, either of them would be good. They'd have to be ok with me yelling at them all the time lol!**

**Fairy Skull: Thanks, the boat is rocked. **

**callieandjack: Don't get too frustrated! There may be a while to go... or not... hehehe!**

**keiraliz: lol, I know! I was like ewwww! I hATE it when Will dies!**

**klutzygal12: What can I do to make you not be upset with me?!?!?!!?**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: If they told the truth it would be too simple. Nothing in life is simple. **

**Pirate-on-fleet-street: Yeah, I'm back at school now :( I try to put my own scenes in where possible.**

**Love you,**

**LV XX  
**

* * *

It was almost funny that the shock of how cold the sea was always got to me considering how much time I had spent in it over the years almost drowning. This wasn't going to be one of those times, not if I could help it, anyway. It wasn't just the cold that never failed to surprise me, it was the silence that pressed down on your ears and stopped any sound. I was sure some of it leaked into your brain and stopped your thoughts from making noises too. Things that I had been worried about before didn't seem to matter all that much. It was so calm and peaceful that I wondered why we didn't just _live_ down there. At least then I wouldn't be able to argue with anyone. My lungs gave a painful throb, alerting me to the fact I needed oxygen and I remembered why nobody had moved to under the sea: we needed air.

I noticed something floating away and realized with a jolt that it was Will. Elizabeth was trying to reach towards him, but he was too far gone. He was sinking down into the dark waters below. He tried to swim up, but just kept floating down. I thought about swimming to get him, but I wasn't sure that would help, I would probably end up in the mess as him. Just then he grabbed hold of one of the ropes floating around in the water and I sighed with relief.

_Oops._

I had just let out a lot of my oxygen supply. As I was congratulating myself on my stupidity I felt the _Pearl _start to shake beneath my hands. It rumbled and then started to shoot down into the depths. Except it wasn't really shooting down, it was shooting up into the sunlight. Up was up again. Water fell from the masts as they broke the surface of what had once been the sea below us. I was slammed down hard against the deck and lay winded for a few seconds, listening to the waterlogged coughs of those around me before hauling myself to my feet. My ribs were sore from where I had hit the deck.

"Blessed sweet westerlies!" Gibbs exclaimed. "We're back!"

I dragged myself to the rail of the _Pearl_ and stared out to sea. There was an orange sun on the horizon, just like before. Were we actually back or had we just done something very odd? Either was possible.

"It's a sunrise," said Elizabeth quietly. I blinked. She was right. The sun had previously been setting the last time we had seen it. I was fairly sure that we hadn't been under water for an entire night because if we had we'd be dead by now.

A feeling of happiness spread out across the deck warming ever chilled bone in our bodies. It was like a hot deink on a cold day. It lasted for about a second. Barbossa yanked out his pistol and pointed it at Jack. The air was suddenly full of the click of pistols being drawn. Before I knew what was happening it seemed everyone was aiming their pistols at someone else. Jack was aiming at Will and Elizabeth, Elizabeth was aiming at him and, like Gibbs and Will, had her second pistol trained on Barbossa, who had taken his aim off Jack and changed it so his guns pointed at Will and Elizabeth. Gibbs was standing behind Will and Barbossa with his guns aimed at both of them.

'_This is madness!'_ I silently fumed. _'Why are they all trying to kill each other in stead of celebrating? What are they doing? Are they mad?'_

Of course, I already knew the answer to that and they proved it a second later by laughing at each other. The laughter that filled the deck was cold and forced. All of them were smiling, but not one of their smiles reached their eyes.

"Right then," said Barbossa and everyone snapped back into their original positions. "The Brethren Court is a-gathering at Shipwreck Cove and Jack you and I are a-going and there'll be no arguing that point."

"I _is_ arguing the point," said Jack bluntly. "If there's pirates a-gathering I'm pointing my ship the other way."

Unsurprisingly, this annoyed Elizabeth and she aimed both of her pistols at Jack. "The pirates are gathering to fight Beckett and you are a pirate!"

Jack looked cross and turned both his pistols on her, but Will then turned both of his on Jack, and he was forced to change it back. "Fight or not, you're not running, Jack," said Will.

Barbossa's pistol was also pointed at Jack, but he didn't look all that bothered. As Barbossa pointed out that if we didn't fight together we'd be hunted down and picked off one by one until Jack was the only one left I could help but think he'd said the wrong thing. Sure enough, a gleam appeared in Jack's eye. "I like the sound of that…Captain Jack Sparrow… the last pirate."

I sighed, I couldn't help it. Jack looked so far away and distant when he spoke of immortality and the future. I felt my lip start to tremble and I looked away. What was wrong with me?

"Aye," Barbossa snapped. "And you'll be fighting Jones alone, how does that figure into you're plan?"

Jack broke out of his happy trance-like state. "I'm still working on that," he admitted cheerfully. "But I will not be going back to the Locker mate, you can count on that."

He took his pistol off Will and pointed it at Barbossa. He pulled the trigger. I braced myself for the shot that never came. There was no smell of gunpowder of cry of pain. There was no sound at all except a hollow click. Water spurted out the end of Jack's gun. Barbossa blinked and stared at it in surprise. Everyone tried their pistols, but the same thing happened. An empty click and a splash of water. Gibbs announced grumpily that the lack of dead bodies was down to wet powder. The group in the middle disbanded despite shouts from Pintel (who had only just managed to get down from the mast and so missed all the "fun") that they could still use them as clubs. Even though his comment was ignored, Ragetti loved the suggestion and whacked him on the head. I felt myself smile as I turned away from them, they could always make me laugh.

Although there was a fragile, temporary truce between everyone on board I couldn't help but notice how murderous everyone was looking. I was glad they were all too cross to have thought about swords, but it was only a matter of time until someone did. They needed a distraction about as much as we needed water. _'Aha.'_

"We need water!" I said suddenly, pulling everyone from their (probably quite violent) thoughts. There were general murmurs of agreement from everyone. Will vanished and re-appeared a few moments later with the Charts, he unrolled them and we all crowded round. "There's a freshwater spring here," he pointed out an island. "We can restock there and get back to shooting each other later."

It sounded reasonable enough, until Jack spoke to Barbossa over the top of Will's head, "You lead the shore party, and I'll stay with my ship."

"I'll not be leaving _my _ship in your command," Barbossa said, not being drawn in.

I sighed. This was quickly going to spiral into another long and pointless argument, so long in fact that I could have _swam _to the island and back. Just as I was getting ready to tune it out Will jumped in with the brilliant suggestion that _both_ of them went ashore and _he_ looked after the ship… temporarily of course. It was a stroke of genius. Unable to find a fault with this plan the two Captains reluctantly agreed. The crew sprang into action before either of them could change their mind. Will glanced at me, "Best go with them, Izzy, and keep the peace."

I nodded. I knew being stuck on the same longboat as Jack would be awkward and I wasn't wrong. I spent the entire journey worrying about what he was thinking, if he was looking at me, whether he wanted to talk to me or not. I seemed so aware if Jack's movements and actions even though I was trying my very hardest not to be. The harder I tried to ignore him the more I seemed to notice. Annoyed with myself I jumped out of the longboat earlier than need be to help pull it ashore. As he stepped out Jack inhaled sharply, his eyes widened.

"The Kraken," he breathed so quietly that no-one but me heard it. I frowned at him. What was he on about? I followed his gaze and realized that what I had previously mistaken for a large, green hill rising up out of the sand was actually the body of a huge sea creature. The Kraken, to be exact. Its tentacles were splayed awkwardly all over the beach. Jack's hands shook as we walked towards it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This was the creature that had taken the lives of many men, including Jack; it was the stuff of legend.

When everyone had seen that the beast was well and truly dead they felt safe enough to approach it. Pintel and Ragetti started running all over it. Jack just stood by its head. I watched him warily; he didn't look like he was handling it all that well.

"Still thinking of running Jack?" said Barbossa in a tone that was almost friendly. I felt uneasy that Barbossa was here during a rare moment of weakness from Jack. Jack didn't respond, but Barbossa wasn't finished. "Think you can outrun the world? The problem with being the last of something is that by and by there'd be none left at all."

Like the Kraken.

I wished, for Jack's sake, that Barbossa would go away. Jack barely flinched. "Sometimes things come back, mate, we're living proof- you and me."

"Aye, but that's a gamble of long odds aint it? There's never a guarantee of coming back. But passing on… that's dead cert," said Barbossa. There was a long silence. The noise of the sea and the other pirates seemed distant and faraway. I glanced at Jack. Why was Barbossa making him thinking about his death when he had only just recovered from the last one? It was just cruel. Barbossa sighed, "The world used to be a bigger place."

"The world's still the same," Jack sighed heavily and reached for my hand. "There's just less in it…" His warm fingers entwined with mine. He gave my hand a squeeze and I did the same in response. He barely glanced at Barbossa, "Summoning the Brethren Court is it then?"

"Our only hope," agreed Barbossa.

"That's a sad commentary in and of itself," Jack sighed again. He stared at the Kraken one last time.

"We'd best be going," Barbossa said, more to me than Jack. He walked away and the rest of the crew followed. I tugged gently on Jack's hand. He looked a little lost, but followed me. As we got further away from the corpse Jack got the spring in his step back and the cheeky glimmer that had been missing from his eyes reappeared. By the time we'd reached the freshwater spring he was almost back to normal. The only thing that was wrong was the body floating face-down in the clear water.

We looked on horrified as Barbossa tasted the water. He immediately spat it back out again. "Poisoned," he declared, "Fouled by the body."

The body was turned face-up. Pintel gasped. "Hey, I know him! He was in Singapore."

I looked at the dead man's face. It was the East India Trading Company agent that had posed as one of Sao Feng's men. Why was his body here? A sharp whistle cut through the resounding silence. Ragetti was standing a short distance away pointing out to sea. "We've got company!" he shouted.

In the water floating alongside the _Pearl_ was Sao Feng's flagship, the _Empress_. A gun was pressed against my back and I could hear others being drawn by Tia Huang's men. Most of them were pointed at Jack.

He nodded to Barbossa, "He's the Captain."

Barbossa looked annoyed as the focus of the guns was turned on him. Not that it really mattered who the Captain was. Something weird had happened. We were all prisoners now.


	13. How Many Captains can one Ship Have?

**Hey! An update. I'm back at school and I have homework and a German test tomorrow and I'm ill, but I'm updating. Why? Because I LOVE YOU ALL!!! That's why!! So you better be grateful! Can I recommend ninteennintytwo's fic Pirates Of the Caribbean: Waters of Life? It's really good and I'm sure she'd appreciate more readers.  
**

**Fairy Skull: Yeah, something weird happened there! Dunno what!**

**nineteennintytwo: You know them, it probs won't be for long! **

**bmdrose: Aww, that's ok. Hope you had a great holiday (or vacation or whatever)!**

**keiraliz: Water rules all! Even guns!!!!! You are so lucky your school was canceled!**

**SaveroftheSun: OMG! How did you know about my unicorn twist?!?!?! Who told you? Hmmm?  
**

* * *

It didn't take a genius to figure out that there had been a mutiny aboard the _Pearl. _It was all too easy and too organised to have been an entirely outside job. Sao Fend and his men had completely taken over. Jack didn't look to happy to see his fellow Pirate Lord – he tried to hide behind Barbossa. They were the only two left free to walk around the _Pearl. _The rest of us were hauled over to the side and tied up.

"Sao Feng…" I heard Barbossa say as I was being dragged away. "You being here is truly a remarkable co-incidence."

I thought this to be quite a witty jibe from Barbossa, but it was not appreciated by Sao Feng as he ignored it and looked straight at Jack. Well, what was he expecting? "Jack Sparrow… you paid me great insult once."

Jack peaked out from behind the other Captain. He greeted Sao Feng with his most charming smile and tried to appear confident. "Really? That doesn't sound like me…" There was a crack as his nose snapped under Sao Feng's fist. I winced for him. He cracked it back into place; I cringed away from the sound. It really was horrible. "Shall we call it square then?"

Sao Feng's lips twisted into a hard line, but then Will pushed his way through demanding Elizabeth's freedom.

I don't know why I ever trusted Will.

I really don't. It was he of all people that had led the munity against us all. After everything he had said about Jack's untrustworthy qualities and now he had proved himself to be exactly the same. Hypocrite. That was all he was, a filthy hypocrite. I have to say that in his defence, he didn't look happy about what he'd done. That didn't excuse it of course. Jack had sounded more offended than anything else when Sao Feng had referred to him as Captain Turner. "_Captain _Turner?" he repeated. Then he looked at Will. "_Captain _Turner needed the _Pearl_. And you…" he looked to Elizabeth, "you felt guilty…" his glare turned on Barbossa, "And you and your Brethren… did nobody come to save me just because they missed me?"

There was a silence. I tried to duck down behind Marty, not wanting his roaming eyes to meet mine; I didn't know how to react if they did. Jack and I were sort of fighting. I don't think either of us really knew what about, but something had happened on those stairs that were now guarded by Sao Feng's men. I just didn't know what. Of course he found me; Marty's not exactly a very good hiding place. Someone kicked me hard on the back of the leg. I sort of stumbled forward into the middle of everyone. They were _all_ staring at me now.

"I… I did," I said quietly. So quietly that I hoped no one would hear me. Jack's smile told me a different story. His eyes shifted to those behind me. Gibbs, Marty, Cotton, Pintel and Ragetti had they're hands raised. So did Jack the Monkey, but I think he may have just been copying everyone else. Jack beamed at us all as I shuffled back into my place.

"I'm standing over there with them," he said, but he was stopped by Sao Feng and pulled back.

"Sorry, Jack, there's an old friend who wants to see you first…" he smiled coldly. He dragged Jack to the side and pointed to the _Endeavour_ which was sailing towards the _Empress._ Things weren't boding too well for Jack and he knew it.

"I'm not sure how many visits from old friends I can survive," he mumbled. Sao Feng looked disgustingly delighted. What an idiot. As if the East India Trading Company would help pirates like us! Striking a deal with them was like signing your own death warrant, what was Sao Feng playing at? He had brought the enemy straight to our door and he had brought Jack straight to Beckett's door. I tried not to worry as Jack was taken over to the _Endeavour. _I knew it was stupid to worry; Jack had been through the Company countless times. Crew from the _Endeavour _came aboard the _Pearl _in their regimented lines. That wiped the smile from Sao Feng's smug face. He turned to Mercer, "My men will be crew enough."

"Company ship, company crew," Mercer replied curtly.

Will looked a bit worried by this. He glared at Sao Feng, "We agreed the _Black Pearl _was to be mine."

"And so it was…" Sao Feng smiled cruelly. With a nod to one two of his men, Will was punched into submission. He and Elizabeth were chained along with the rest of us. I glowered at the back of Will's head, but of course he couldn't see me. Sao Feng looked to Mercer, "Beckett agreed the _Black Pearl_ was to be mine."

Mercer looked at Sao Feng like he was giving off a bad smell, which he probably was. "Lord Beckett's not about to give up the only ship that can beat the _Dutchman_ now, is he?"

The scars on Sao Feng's face stood out white as his face flushed with anger. Mercer walked away from him. Sao Feng just stood there, knowing he was defeated. It was a defeat he had brought upon himself by trusting the Company. Barbossa, noticing how badly things were going for Sao Feng saw his chance and sidled up to him, "Shame their not bound to honour the code of the Brethren, isn't it? `Course, honour's a hard thing to come by nowadays…"

Another sly jibe from Barbossa… he was on a roll! Sao Feng didn't see it that way of course, he was still fuming. "There is no honour in remaining with the loosing side… but leaving it for the winning one, that's just good business."

"The loosing side says _you_," Barbossa countered, to which Sao Feng pointed out that the Company had both the _Pearl _and the _Dutchman_. Barbossa was ready for this. I got the impression that it was actually what he wanted Sao Feng to say. "We have… Calypso."

The same gleam that had entered Barbossa's eyes at the mention of the name appeared in Sao Feng's although he did his best to mask it. "An old legend," he scoffed.

"No…" Barbossa was loving having so much power over Sao Feng. "The goddess herself bound in human form. All the power of the sea brought to bear against our enemy. I intend to release her, but for that I need the Court... _all _the Court," he said meaningfully.

"What are you prosing," Sao Feng was sounding more thoughtful now.

"What be you accepting?" Barbossa sounded like he already knew the answer.

"The girl," Sao Feng replied. And he looked directly at Elizabeth. Now I was just plain confused. I think Elizabeth was too.

"What?" she cried.

"What?" I asked Gibbs in a whisper.

"He thinks Elizabeth is Calypso," he replied. I tried to stop myself laughing. I really did. It was Barbossa's glare that helped.

Will got all cross about it as usual, even though the stupid traitor must have realised that he didn't have much of a say anymore. "Elizabeth is not part of any bargain!"

"Out of the question…" Barbossa agreed, although he didn't really sound like he was agreeing.

"It was not a question," Sao Feng said. There was a short silence.

"Done," Elizabeth stared at the Captain defiantly.

Will looked shocked. "What? Not done."

Elizabeth glared at him, "It was you that got us into this mess if this is what frees us then… done!"

"Elizabeth, they are pirates!" he protested. A feeble excuse. Since when had that caused us any problem? Elizabeth said something to the same effect and pushed him away. The meaning behind her words was clear. She had dealt enough with pirates and now Will had betrayed us all she couldn't trust him anymore than she could the other scallywags. She was as hypocritical as he fiancée, but at least she was sort of helping. Will fell back, defeated. The two Captains shook hands. With Sao Feng's men on side it would be a lot easier to take back the _Pearl_.

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**A/N: Me again! Haha! I've started the next one on paper (that's what I do before I type them up and post them) and I'm really worried that writing my own one is going to turn out rubbish! Anyhooo, love ya lots!**

**XX  
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	14. Taking Back The Pearl

**ninteennintytwo: Yup, he is. I dunno whether you think that is good or bad, but George'll be coming back.**

**keiraliz: Yeah, cutting vacation short would suck!**

**klutzygal12: Soz, left you off the last one by mistake! :S I can't tell you when that's going to happen....**

**Fairy Skull: Thanks, here's more!**

**Nelle07: I know, lol.**

**bmdrose: Things in pirate land go screwy a lot.**

**callieandjack: Thanks, matey, hope you like this one too!  
**

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Word spread like fire, only much less destructive. The crackle of whispers passed from one pirate to another undetected by Beckett's men. I watched the word spread and then all eyes turned to Barbossa and Sao Feng as we awaited their signal. I squished my hands up as much as I could and tried furiously wriggling them out of the irons they were trapped in. I attempted not to pull a face as the metal scraped over my knuckles. Barbossa looked to us all and then he gave a nod. And all hell broke loose.

A loud roar erupted from deep inside the throats of everyone aboard the _Pearl_ and from then on the Navy didn't stand a chance. They hadn't seemed too bothered about rounding up Sao Feng's men who drew their swords and broke us out of the chains that they themselves had put us in. Those of them that were free turned their murderous intentions to the Redcoats. Some of them noticed too late. The deck was crowded enough as it was and with this fresh fight breaking out it was a complete mess. There was barely room to breath and the noise hurt my head, but at the same time gave me a massive rush in the pit of y stomach that rose up and burst out of my mouth in a loud battle cry.

My hands sprung free from their shackles and immediately found my sword. It was true what James had said about pirates they were… _we_ were ruthless, fickle and disorganized, but that was the beauty of it. That was the _point_. That was why piracy would never die. That was why I would never leave it… or so I thought at the time.

The Navy was caught off guard as it is a well-known fact that they are nothing without a plan. Their ranks were thrown into complete chaos. Some of them though they were to retreat. Others tried to fight us with horrible consequences. Horrible for them I mean. There were shouts both of triumph and of pain. Mercer started furiously shouting over the din, but everyone else was so loud that his dulcet tones failed to penetrate it. His men were falling left, right and centre and after a brief battle with Barbossa he took his chance and dove off the side of the _Pearl_, leaving him men to their fate; cowardice in its truest form.

The _Pearl_ shuddered beneath me as a cannon went off. It hit the side of the _Endeavour_ and splinters flew from it. I automatically prayed that Jack was safe, even though I was still trying my hardest to sometimes think of things and people other than Jack, but it was frustratingly hard. He was always on my mind and it was really annoying! The sooner I was rid of him the better.

The fight was an easy victory; they saw the hopelessness of it all. They saw how many men they were loosing and they retreated to the safety of their own ship at the same time that Sao Feng and his men made their escape with Elizabeth. I wasn't too worried about her, Sao Feng was on our side and she knew how to deal with men such as him. Because I was trying so hard _not _to be worrying about Jack him being left behind was the _first _thing I worried about as we sailed away. It was just when I had convinced myself that I hadn't actually been thinking about Jack or wondering what was going to happen to him at all, when there was a loud bang from the _Endeavour_. It was followed by the unmistakable sound of Jack screaming. My eyes found the noise and tracked him as he flew in a smooth ark over our heads, arms and legs flailing. It felt like my heart was trying to leap out of my mouth and join him up there. I lost sight of him as he plummeted down somewhere. We all automatically ran to the rail and peered over. Where was he? I searched for any sign of him beneath the foaming swell, but there was nothing. A cough made me glance up at Jack briefly before I refocused on scouring the sea. Then I did a double-take after realizing what I had seen. He wasn't in the water at all. He was sitting high up on the stern, smiling at us all.

"And that," he announced proudly. "Was without a single drop of rum." He caught my eye and in a fit of high spirits winked at me. I really don't know how he did it. Then his eyes fell on Will and the smile changed. It was still there, but it was colder, more threatening. He jumped down and walked over to him, "Send this pestilent, traitorous, cow-hearted, yeasty, cod beast to the brig," he ordered and I wondered idly how many of those insults he had made up himself.

Will didn't put up a fight as he was hauled away I suppose he knew he deserved it.

***

That night was freezing aboard the _Pearl_ and while others snored through it, I found myself unable to sleep. I knew that come morning I would be so tired I would fall asleep where I stood, but I got up. I thought about waking Jack and their was a point in our friendship where we were comfortable with doing so to one another, but not anymore. Not now. So I roamed the decks alone.

After an hour or so I found that I was not alone. I could hear voices and unless I was very much mistaken, one of them was Will's. What was he doing up?

"I'm losing her, Jack," he said quietly. What was he doing confiding in Jack and why hadn't Jack raised an alarm? "Every step I take towards my father is a step away from Elizabeth."

"Mate, if you choose to lock you're heart away, you'll loose her forever," I heard Jack reply. "Now if I may lend a machete to your intellectual thick head, avoid the choice all together. Let someone else stab the heart."

I felt my hear sink with despair. I knew better than Will what was coming. "Who?" Will asked. I walked towards the sound of their voices as by interrupting their conversation I could stop it from happening all together, but just as I rounded the corner Will said, "You?" Jack nodded.

"Death has a curious way of re-shuffling one's priorities," he said. "I slip aboard the _Dutchman_, find the heart, stab the beating thing, free you're father and you'd be free to be with you're charming murderess."

"And you would be willing to cut out your heat and bind yourself to the Dutchman… forever?"

"No mate, I'm free forever," he said. "Free to sail the sea beyond the edges of the map and feel indebted to."

"You'd have to do the job though, Jack; ferry souls to the next world or you'll end up just like Jones." Will indicated Jones's tentacles. Even though he had his back to me I could see his reaction. Jack looked like he was about to throw up.

"I don't have the face for tentacles," Jack said before recovering. "But eternity has to count for something, eh?"

He pulled out his compass and handed it to Will. He took it at studied "What's this?"

"Think like me and it'll come to you," Jack replied. Will looked up and caught sight of me where I had been routed in the shadows.

"What about Isabel?" he asked Jack. At the sound of my name I felt myself blush because I had been caught listening in.

"I can't even be around her anymore, mate," said Jack quietly. "The sooner I'm on the _Dutchman _the better."

"You're a coward, Jack," said Will equally as quietly.

"So are you!" Jack said indignantly before he leant forward and the next thing I knew Will had toppled over the side of the _Pearl_. Jack pushed something over after him and then leaned over and shouted, "Send my regards to Davy Jones." Then he turned around, saw me and his pleased smile faltered. "Oh. Hello, love."

"Don't worry I'm just going." I said coldly.

"Belle…" he walked over to me and put a hand on each of my shoulders. I recoiled.

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden to have around," my tone chilled even me and I was the one talking. I turned around to leave.

"Belle, it's not that!" he shouted. I looked back at him.

"Really?" I arched an eyebrow disbelievingly. "Then what is it?"

* * *

**And now I'm going away for the rest of my life...**

**well, not really!**

**LOVE YOU!!!!!!**

**LV**

**XX  
**


	15. A Reason to Stay

**Hi! This chapter's quite short, but the next one's quite long, so I'm sure you'll forgive me... right?**

**nineteennintytwo: Oh good, I was about to call an ambulance! What happened to your fic btw?**

**callieandjack: Wise words. If you shout they may hear you.**

**Nelle07: Lol, that should be a song.**

**keiraliz: Is she ever happy with him? lol. OMG! Jack Sparrow: pirate, outlaw and insult theif!**

**Fairy Skull: Lol.I should have got someone to shout that!**

**SaveroftheSun: That's k. I love the words Banana hammock! I love that Friend's episode! Jeeze... Canada's far! How'd you run there?**

**xXDeadlyRoseXx: Sorry, I was as fast I could be!**

**bmdrose: Hello?... Hello? Have you died?**

**klutzygal12: Geeze is the word! Pretty much sums up the whole thing!**

**Chelsea: Um... :S There _will be..._**

**Pirate-on-Fleet-Street: Lol, I thought that might panic ppl. Don't look at me like that! A girl's gotta have some fun! Soz! I do that loose lose thing all the time! :S  
**

* * *

My question seemed to throw him of guard, which is ridiculous. What had he expected me to say? He looked at me for a long time, or at least that's what it felt like. I could tell he was choosing his words with a great deal of care and thought. Under the intensity of his gaze I felt my heart melt slightly even though I was angry and upset with him. He heaved a sigh, "I promised William I'd stab the heart, love, remember that."

I exhaled sharply, only then realizing I had been holding my breath, "You haven't answered my question."

For once he didn't look so sure of himself. "I need you to remember that, love," he said, ignoring my protest completely.

"I don't see what that has to do with-"

"William," Jack cut a cross me loudly as if I hadn't even spoken. "Has a reason to stay. He is engaged. He has Elizabeth and, therefore it makes sense that _I _be the one to stab the heart."

"I know all this! I did hear your conversation, remember?" I snapped irritated but at the same time covering up how hurt I was by using attack as a form of defence.

"Will you let me finish!" he shouted his face reddening a little, even in the dark. I fell silent out of shock more than anything. He took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking again. He glanced away from me, "But what if I did have a reason to stay?"

The silence made me feel confident enough to speak, "You just said that you didn't! And why would you promise Will if you knew you couldn't do it?!?"

He was the most infuriating, irritating, complicated man I had ever met and yet the more time I spent in his company the deeper in love I fell. It was intoxicating. He was studying his shoes in great detail.

`"My reason," hem mumbled. "Might not be dissimilar to Will's."

"Oh… my…" I breathed so quietly it could have been mistaken for a soft sea breeze. He looked up at me suddenly in surprise and scrutinized my expression. I hated unexpected eye contact with him. There was never enough time to prepare myself for those eyes.

"Belle…" he spoke so softly I almost started crying. "I…"

"**DON'T!**" I snapped my voice rugged with anger. He flinched. "Don't even bother finishing that sentence! I know where this is going and it _can't_!"

He was looking at me in a way I couldn't quite understand. He looked hurt to a degree that I never thought was possible. Not for him. Because he was Jack Sparrow and, since Barbossa had mutinied against him, he had never let anyone get close enough to hurt him as badly as his eyes conveyed at that moment. I silently cursed Elizabeth for doing this to Jack, but I knew that he was also to blame. It was his fault he fell in love. Surely even he could see that he and Elizabeth had no future together. She belonged with Will, Jack couldn't have her and she wouldn't take him no matter how similar his reason was to Will's. Similar in the way that it was the same girl, dissimilar because he couldn't have her; she was _engaged_. I thought that even _he_ wouldn't try and break up something like that. Not that he ever could.

I haven't even got around to thinking about the best way to word this, a way of telling the truth without hurting him even more, before he turned on his heels and walked away from me. I stood alone in the dark until the slam of a door jolted me from the trance-like state he had left me in and then I left for my bunk. My eyes prickling because I knew form his departure that he wouldn't talk to me for a long time. By the time he was ready to I would probably have left for Port Royale or wherever I was going. I found this to be a harsh move on his part. All I had done was said something he didn't want to hear. There was no need for him to shoot the messenger. But he had.

***

How could I have known?

I had always thought that when something happened to someone you love you would feel something. That you would somehow know. But that night I felt nothing but my own selfish pain. It almost makes me laugh to think about how self-absorbed I was that night when something far worse was happening to someone I love. Even when I entered into the world of dreams there was nothing there. No sign or clue as to what was going on. Nothing to warn me that as I slept my world, as I knew it, was being destroyed. The one thing that had kept me strong through everything; my rock, my safety net, my world was being taken from me. But I didn't know. I wasn't there and I slept through it.

How could I have known?


	16. Arrival at Shipwreck Cove

**A/N Thanks for the reviews guys! The Shipwreck Cove bit is longer than even I thought it was going to be, so as a result I have two updates for you. Lucky Duckies.**

**bmdrose: No! God no! Don't worry nothing's happened to Jack!**

**LOVE YOU ALL!!! **

**XX  
**

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Even when I woke up there was no sense of foreboding, no ominous rain cloud hanging over my bunk preparing me for what had happened. It was my own troubles and worries that woke me. A rush of dread at knowing that I would have to spend another day in the company of a sulking Jack and the crippling pain of the argument the night before. I watched the sun rise over an island not knowing that its rays would not warm the face of someone close to me or that the wind would never again blow him back to me.

To say that things between Jack and I were cold would be an understatement of the biggest variety. It was like I didn't even know him. He put as much distance between me and him as was humanly possible. But there was more than just wooden deck space between us. There was a vast, yawning chasm of awkwardness. I was so hyper-aware of him, but at the same time trying to keep my distance. I could hear him not talking to me; see him not looking at me and feel him not acknowledging my existence. Those crewmembers that were slightly more in-tune to the world around them than others (which wasn't very many of them) noticed the shift in Jack and my relationship and they were walking on eggshells. I have never felt so awkward and guilty in my whole life. Although I have no idea how he managed to manipulate me so that I felt guilty, I had done nothing wrong, but he made me feel like I had.

"Look alive and keep a weather eye!" Gibb's sharp tones cut through the silence. "Not for nought it's called Shipwreck Island where lies Shipwreck Cove and the town of Shipwreck."

The crew sprang into action at his words, looking relieved to break the cold silence that had seeped from Jack and me and infected almost everyone on board. Jack and Gibbs began to walk along the deck. They were walking towards me. My heart thumped so hard I actually thought that even Jack would hear it. "You know, for all that pirates are clevercloggs we are an unimaginative bunch when it comes to naming things."

"Aye," Gibbs said, glancing warily at me as they drew nearer.

"I once sailed with a geezer who lost both of his arms and part of his eye," Jack said. He was so focused on talking to Gibbs that he walked right into me. The contact made a strange fire creep up my skin and into my cheeks, flushing them red. He glanced at me and although his gaze cut through me like a knife he appeared not to see me.

"What did you call him?" Gibbs asked, still staring at me. I lowered my gaze, hating myself for being so pathetic.

"Larry," I heard Jack answer. I turned away from them both and walked away. I was the poorest excuse for a human being in the whole of human history. I needed to escape the _Pearl_. Anywhere would be better than this awkwardness. Even Port Royale.

I got myself through it by holding onto that glimmer of hope that I would be able to escape after this. It wouldn't be long until I could return to Port Royale and James and I could live life like before. Well, not quite like before, but as normal as things could ever really be, but even I forgot my troubles when I saw Shipwreck Cove.

It was so impressive. Nothing could have prepared me for it and there was no place like it. Maybe the name should have prepared me, but it didn't. I believed that every ship that had ever been shipwrecked had come to end up here. To form this island, it was just a mountain of ruined ships thrown casually on to a pile that fitted together so beautifully that it held as its own, slightly contorted structure. There were ships moored all around it, so many pirates and so many pirate ships. It was so hard to take in, the ships all had their lights on which cast a beautiful twinkle of thousands of lights and made the cove seemed almost magical to me.

Everyone gathered at the helm to see it, with the same expression of awe on their faces that I assumed was on mine. Barbossa took a deep breath. He always loved creating an atmosphere, "There's not been a gathering like this in our lifetime."

The mood was ruined when Jack announced that he owed them all money.


	17. Shipwreck Cove

**A/N Told you so! Hehehe!**

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We docked and Barbossa led us into the island. The ships all linked to each other in different ways and we ended up in a huge room lit entirely by what must have been at least a hundred candles. The room was full of noise and people. Different accents and languages floated over to me across the room and over the hubbub. At the table in the centre of the room that everyone was crowded around were seven of the nine Pirate Lords. Jack and Barbossa plunged their swords into the globe in the corner of the room by the door was had just entered and then Barbossa stood at the head of the table. He banged on it for attention. After a moment a silence fell and he declared the fourth meeting of the Brethren open, motioned for them all to sit down and called for the pieces of eight to be brought forward, I watched with interest as they handed them over. They didn't look like coins to me. One was a playing card.

"They're not pieces of eight! They're just pieces of junk!" Pintel said loudly. Gibbs looked embarrassed to be standing next to him.

"Aye, the original plan was to use pieces of eight to bind Calypso, but when the first court met the Brethren were to a one skint broke."

"So change the name!"

"What? To 'nine pieces of whatever we happen to have in our pockets at the time'? Oh yes, that sounds very piratey!"

Despite my mood, I smiled at Gibbs's words, but I was distracted by Ragetti popping out his eye- it was Barbossa's piece of eight. No wonder he was so protective over it! With the bowl full of pieces of eight, Barbossa turned to Jack for his piece of eight. I wondered what it was. I saw him reluctantly fiddling with the beads that hung over his bandana.

Jack tried to charm his way out of it. He'd been skulking around behind Barbossa avoiding handing his over. "Might I point out that we are still short one Pirate Lord and I'm content as a cucumber to wait until Sao Feng gets here?"

"Sao Feng is dead," Elizabeth's voice cut across the gentle murmur of anger directed towards Jack and stopped it completely. The resounding silence was so absolute that I was sure everyone had stopped functioning. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't that bothered. I'd never liked the man. It was a shame someone had died and all, but I was glad it was someone who had not been close to me in any way. There was a problem I could see. If he was dead did that mean yet another venture to the End of the World? If so I was going to demand to go back to Port Royale _right now. _Elizabeth stabbed her sword into the globe. Did she know that you only had to do that if you were actually a Pirate Lord? She did so anyway proclaiming that So Feng had fallen to the _Flying Dutchman _and the murmurs started again, quickly turning to uproar.

"He made _you _Captain?" Jack asked in disbelief. "We're just giving the bloody title away now!"

Oh wow! Elizabeth was a Captain _and_ a Pirate Lord? Was that why she was wearing such a stupid hat? I thought she had left her stupid hat fetish behind in Singapore. I tried to catch her eye, but she was too busy trying to get the pirates to be quiet. I noticed for the first time that it smelt a bit funny in here. Like Tortuga, only not half as bad.

"Listen! Listen to me!" she shouted over the din to no avail. "Our location has been betrayed!" That got their attention and silenced them. "Jones is under the command of Beckett; they're on their way here."

'_No thanks to my brother' _I thought and hoped nobody would bring this up.

"Who is this betrayer?" the African Pirate Lord asked.

"Not likely anyone among us," Barbossa motioned for him to sit down. Why was he so obsessed with people having to sit down? He wasn't, he was standing.

"Where's Will?" Elizabeth asked as the pirates began yet another discussion. If they didn't stop talking at the end of each bloody sentence we'd never get anything done. They were like children.

"Not among us," Jack said smugly, most likely trying to turn Elizabeth against her fiancé. I could have punched him, but he was too far away.

"It matters not _how _they found us," Barbossa cut in. They were all listening in now. "The question is: what do we do now they have?"

"We fight," said Elizabeth.

As everyone laughed at her I thought about how much Barbossa's voice and speeches changed when he was among fellow pirates. It became pirateier to boost his ego. Elizabeth was looking a bit confused as to why she was being laughed at.

"Shipwreck Cove is a fortress," the Chinese Pirate Lord said to her. "A well supplied fortress. There is no need to fight if they cannot get to us."

There were general noises of agreements until Barbossa announced that there was another way. Everyone looked at him. "In another age, at this very spot, the first Brethren Court captured the sea goddess and bound her in her bones." Everyone nodded to show they were following. I didn't really see where he was going with this. He shook his head. "That was a mistake. Oh, we tamed the seas for ourselves, aye, but opened the door to Beckett and his ilk. Better were the days when mastery of the seas came not from bargains stuck with eldritch sea creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. You all know this to be true. Gentlemen… ladies… we must free Calypso."

There was a long silence. Barbossa looked a bit miffed at the lack of response to his probably well-rehearsed speech. Then suddenly, for no reason, everyone started shouting all at once. There were several shouted suggestions to shoot Barossa or to cut out his tongue, which Jack loved.

"Shoot him _and _cut out his tongue!" he said excitedly. "Then shout his tongue… and then trim that straggly beard!"

As Barbossa looked disgruntled there was a shout that Sao Feng would have agreed with him, followed immediately by a contradicting one about Calypso being our enemy. Another argument agreeing with Barbossa. The pirates bickered across the table and the rational arguments ended with a shot being fired.

It seems to be an unwritten (or maybe it is in the Code- I haven't checked) rule among pirates that if a gun goes off while you are in the company of other pirates then it is ok for you to go completely mad. It acts as a signal to everyone to start attacking their neighbour for no apparent reason. Within seconds the meeting of the Brethren, the nine most important pirates at this present moment, the meeting that was to decide our fate against the East India Trading Company, dissolved into a complete shambles. It was like a reconstruction of a drunken night in Tortuga. Instead of rationally arguing and stating points everyone started throwing punches at each other.

"This is madness," said Elizabeth faintly.

"This is politics." Jack countered, watching it with a degree of amusement. I wondered how much longer this could go on for without someone dying. Barbossa climbed onto the table and I thought he had finally lost it. He fired two shots into the air and the fighting stopped. Everyone looked at him.

"It was the first Court what imprisoned Calypso. We should be the ones to set her free and in her gratitude she will see fit to grant us boons."

Jack frowned at stared at the cannonballs dangling between Barbossa's legs. "Who's boons? Your boons?" he asked. Barbossa sighed and climbed down as Jack continued, "Utterly deceptive twaddle-speak says I." Barbossa challenged him to share any better ideas. To which Jack's reply was, "Cuttlefish."

And I knew he'd gone mad.

He started strutting around the way he does when he thinks he is saying something clever. "Let us not, dear friends, forget our dear friends the cuttlefish. Flipping glorious little sausages. Pen them up together and they'll devour each other without a second thought, human nature, isn't it? Or… fish nature. So, yes we could hole up here. Well provisioned and well armed and half of us would be dead within the month. Which seems quite grim to me whichever way you slice it, or… as my learned colleague so naively suggests we can release Calypso and we can pray she will be merciful. I rather doubt it. Can we pretend she is anything other than a women scorned with like fury hell hath no? We cannot." His eyes lingered on mine acknowledging me for the first time that day. "And we all know how stroppy pissed off woman can be." I narrowed my eyes at him, but he had already moved on. "We are left but with one option. I agree with, and I cannot believe the words are coming out of me mouth… Captain Swann. We must fight."

_'Of course you're agreeing with her,'_ I thought bitterly. _'You're in love with her!'_

"You've always run from a fight." Barbossa, quite honestly, said.

"Have not!"

"Have so!"

And so it went on back and forth and back and forth, like children, until finally jack put an end to it. "Have not, slander and calumny! I have only ever embraced the oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit that here and now this is what we all must do: we must to fight… to run away."

Gibbs was, as usual, the first to agree with his Captain. Others soon followed. We may have found something we agreed on. Barbossa came up with a flaw. Jack accused him of making it up as I stupidly looked around for someone with a crown.

"Did I now?" said Barbossa. "I call on Captain Teague; Keeper of the Code."

There was a short silence and then someone started shouting about the code being nonsense. A bullet through the chest silenced him. I looked for the gunman. He was standing not far off blowing the smoke from his gun. And he looked like Jack.

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**Dun, dun, dun! It's Darth Vader!**

**Just kidding! **

**Love you!**

**LV XX  
**


	18. Captain Teague

**Hello! Thanks for the adds and reviews everyone! I was thinking the other day about a spin-off of this- from Jack's POV. What do you think?**

**Love you,**

**LV**

**XX  
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Everything from the dreads and beads to the soles of his shoes was almost exactly like Jack. Almost, but not quite. They managed to look almost the same as each other, but at the same time looked completely individual. They even had elements of the same swagger and cocky mannerisms, although Jack seemed to have lost all of his. He was the only one who hadn't turned at the sound of the gunshot and he flinched when the man spoke.

"The Code is law," he said. His voice was full of an authority that nobody dare question. The atmosphere around me buzzed without anyone actually making a sound. It was so tangible you could almost taste it. The hairs the back of my neck prickled a little. The man stepped further into the light his dark eyes that bore an uncanny resemblance to Jack's took all of us in with one sweeping gaze across the room. He was much, much older than Jack. His wrinkled and weathered face betrayed that. He swaggered towards the table.

"You're in my way, boy," he said to Jack as he approached. Jack immediately moved out of the way looking both shocked and a little worried by the entrance of Captain Teague. Captain Teague beckoned and two pirates emerged from the shadows, carrying a book so vast it took both of them to do it. A universal whisper of "the Code" rustled around the room. It was set down on the table and Teague whistled. There was a jangling sound and the dog from Port Royale came bounding towards him and those of us who knew who he was, gasped. "Sea turtles mate," said Teague by way of explanation.

He took the keys from the dog and unlocked the book. The dog came and sat on my feet, which was uncomfortable to say the least. Captain Teague ran his finger along the words in the Code before coming to a stop. He glanced up, "Barbossa is right."

"Hang on a minuet!" Jack butted in, seemingly regaining confidence. He bent over the book, his finger following the same path as Captain Teague's. He read aloud more to himself than anyone else, "It shall be the duties, as the King, to declare war, parley against adversaries… Fancy that."

"There has not been a King since the first Court and that is not likely to change!" the French Pirate Lord said.

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked.

"See, the Pirate King is elected by popular vote," said Gibbs.

"And each pirate only ever votes for hisself," stated Barbossa.

Jack called for a vote and there was a collective sigh as one after the other each Pirate Lord voted for his or herself. Teague began to play a guitar. This was such a waste if time. I started to say so to Gibbs, but then something cut me short. Jack voted for Elizabeth. No one was more shocked that she.

"What?" she blurted out. Even though I knew he was in love with her I thought it was a bit odd for Jack to pass up a chance at being King.

"I know. Curious, isn't it?" he had time to say before the room erupted into shouts of the other pirates trying to get Jack to vote for them. Jack waited until he thought they had all driven themselves suitably mad and the rest of us suitably deaf before he spoke over the noise, "Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the Code, then?"

One of Teague's strings snapped and I jumped. He looked up and a formidable silence fell upon us. The pirates sat and accepted Elizabeth's new position. It was then that she declared war. A cheer rose up amongst us. We had until dawn to prepare ourselves.

Being a woman of not very much importance, I was pushed to the back of the rabble. Elizabeth was waving frantically at me, shouting over their heads, but her words were lost, snatched away by the shouts of the pirates. She lost patience and pushed through them.

"Isabel!" she said now that she was close enough to be audible over the noise. "I need to talk to you." I didn't know what to say. There was still a large part of me that resented Elizabeth for everything that had happened. I knew some of it was unreasonable. I suppose that it wasn't her fault that she had stolen the one man I loved, but she didn't have to kill him as well. I just nodded. She took a deep breath and I knew it wasn't good news. Nothing, not even the sorrow in her eyes, could have prepared me for her words, "James is dead."

I heard someone gasp. I realized it was me before I'd even realized what she'd said. My knees buckled beneath me as if a rug had been pulled out from under my feet. Someone caught me under the arms from behind and helped me stand upright. Elizabeth reached towards me.

***

_The call came that dinner was ready, but Elizabeth and I ignored it. After a while James came to get us. He pretended to be cross at our disobedience, but I could tell that he was secretly laughing and pleased to have escaped the direly boring conversation of the adults. I proudly showed him the drawings Elizabeth and I had done and at the same time trying to cover up the mess we had made. He couldn't have been away for longer than fifteen minutes, but the next thing we knew was frantic shouts from Governor Swann for us all to get out of the house. The sound of crackling reached our ears as we ran from the house, blinded by smoke and choking from the smell of it. _

_I clung to James on the rain soaked lawn as flames lapped at the doors and windows of the house. He wrapped his arms around me and I felt protected and sheltered from the flames. I heard my own voice as I tearfully whispered, "Where's mum and dad?"_

_He just looked at me and I knew. We both did. He said nothing, what was there to say? If we said it out loud it would make it definite, final, true. If we didn't say it, if we didn't admit to ourselves that they were gone then they would still be there with us._

"You're lying!" I shouted at her. She flinched. I knew that she wasn't. The tears dampening my cheeks and blurring my vision told me that she had spoken the truth, but I couldn't admit that. That would be like admitting my brother was dead and, by extension, I truly was alone in the world. "You're lying! Just like you lied about Jack! Why are trying to take James from me too?"

***

_At the time I remember watching the burnt-out house crumble in on itself and noticing that it was only then that James allowed himself to cry. It was then that he changed. His eyes were full of a determination that we should survive. I __saw, even though I was only ten; that it had brought us closer together. We had a purpose in life now- each other. The childhood we knew was gone. He became obsessed with work and with promotions. I knew he was working for me. To help me. It meant he was away a lot, but I never once complained because I knew that soon the wind would blow him back to me. My rock…my port in a storm…my brother. The one person in my childhood life that stayed with me always, even when he wasn't there in person. _

***

Clinging to the hope that Elizabeth was lying was the only way I could think of comforting myself. James couldn't die. It wasn't right. He always had to be there. He was a survivor. He survived the fire that killed our parents. He survived every day at sea and even when I thought he had died on the Isla de Cruces he had proven me wrong. So it was an utter _impossibility _that he had died.

***

_He ran up the beach, still clutching the chest. Jones's crew ran after him. I wasn't going to let James do this. I needed him, he was my brother. The only member of family I had left. I shouted for him to come back, but he didn't. I tried to run after him but couldn't. Jack's arms were round my waist, holding me back. He pulled me into the longboat and as I struggled and sobbed he held me tight against his chest even when I tried to push him away._

***

The person holding me upright pulled me towards them as someone cried out. They sounded like they were in pain. It was me. The person smelt almost, but not quite like Jack. I looked up into the blurry face of Captain Teague, his eyes full of pity. He said something and to someone nearby and then I felt myself collapse into an all too familiar pair of arms. He smelt almost, but not quite, like Captain Teague.

***

_I heard Jack talking softly to me, telling me everything was going to be alright, but how could it be? Not with James gone. Who would look out for me now? Who would I talk to now my brother was gone? Defeated, I stopped struggling away from Jack and pulled myself closer to him instead. He hugged me tight and stroked my hair, trying to comfort me and calm me down, but I wasn't sure he could. How could anyone?_

_James was gone._

***

Jack was holding me close to him, murmuring gently in my ear. I didn't know what he was saying, but the sound of his voice was so comforting. His arms were solid and warm even though I felt like reality was slipping away from me. The room was spinning and I felt as if my own body was disappearing, but Jack remained real and there even though everyone else melted and merged into the same wobbling image. I felt Jack's arms squeezing me tightly to him, supporting me. His hands tangled in my hair. Then I felt his lips brush against my skin and he kissed my forehead.

I pushed him away from me with all the strength I could muster, but I think that the only reason he stumbled backwards was because I took him by surprise. He shouted after me, but I didn't turn. I ran away my feet pounding out the rhythm of my heart. I knew immediately that I shouldn't have done it, but I didn't care. I knew that Jack had been trying to help me, but being close to him was still so hard. I didn't look back to see the destruction I has caused. He never did.

And what did it matter what happened to me now? What did it matter what destruction I left behind?

James was dead, gone.


	19. Jones and Calypso

**Hello. Another update. Don't expect them all to be this quick. I'm trying to finish before exams... BOOOO! And this one's quite short, so.... ya know!**

**Jane: I'm glad you like the idea, but for the moment it really is just an idea. I don't know how hard it would be or which bits you would actually want to read. All 3 or just one...**

**LOVE YOU ALL!**

**LV XX**

**Oh, and maybe I should warn you that this chapter gets a bit violent.  
**

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My feet carried me back to the Pearl. I don't know why. Maybe it was because I felt at home there. That thought made me feel guilty now that James had died trying to make sure we both still had a home in Port Royale. I didn't know where I was going, but I was moving with a purpose. Probably to find somewhere, anywhere, that I felt safe. I ended up in Jack's Cabin, but I didn't stay there for long. The dark of the galley of the Pearl was a welcome sight. It hid everything and the objects around me were lost in the darkness. I hoped that I might loose myself too. Because that would be easier than facing the light, facing the truth that what had happened was irreversible. I wanted to stay hidden in the dark. That way no-one could find me. No-one could drag me into reality.

I didn't hear them before I saw them and they didn't hear me coming because they were too absorbed in each other. The sight made me stop and look at them. I fell silent, too scared to breathe or even try backing out of the room. When I had first entered Tia had been speaking softly through the bars to a man I neither knew nor recognized, but then as she took her hand away from where it was resting lightly on his cheek he changed. The weathered skin turned green, the grey hair sticking out from under the hat twisted into slimy tentacles and I noticed his left arm ended in a claw. It was Davy Jones. He had found Calypso. And if either of them saw me I knew I was dead. Although it looked like Tia was about to be too, Jones grabbed her around the neck with his claw and Tia's face flooded with fear, but her tones were angry.

"Why did you come?" she asked.

There was no answer. He let go of her slowly, pulling his claw back. It stuck in between the bars of the cage and I guessed he had been human when he had slipped his hand through. After a few missed attempts of squeezing it back out again he walked into the jail, seeming to melt through the bars. They stared at each other for a moment.

"And what fate have you planned for your captors?" he asked eventually.

"The Brethren Court?" I couldn't see her past Davy Jones, but I could hear how angry she was. As she moved away from him I saw it burning in her eyes. "All of them, the last thing they will learn in this life… is how cruel I can be."

And then she saw me. The burning fires in her eyes were not extinguished. They burned brighter than ever. Without having to say anything to him, Jones's head snapped round to look at me. A snarl broke out of his mouth. "Well, well…" he said coldly. "If it isn't Sparrow's wench."

"I'm not…!" I started to say, hoping that I sounded defiant and fearless. It was a useless hope. Before I knew it he was standing right in front of me. I felt one slimy hand grab my arm and he pulled me away from where I was. I got the impression that he was taking me somewhere, but I couldn't see a door anywhere.

"What of your fate, Davy Jones?" Tia called after him. He stopped and I heard him sigh heavily.

"My heart will always belong to you," he replied quietly. It was moments like that which tricked me into believing he had a heart. His grip on my arm tightened before I felt something weird tingle through my entire body. I would say that it was like everything around me dissolved, but that wasn't strictly true. _I _was the one slipping from reality. I couldn't even feel Jones's hold on me, but still I couldn't move. There was no sound, no voices, no breathing, and no heartbeat. I couldn't see anything, no people, and no colours, not even black. I could feel nothing but the pain coursing through every fiber in my body, but it wasn't my body anymore. I wasn't there. I was in the place between here and there. It could have lasted for a minute, an hour, a week, a second or a lifetime. Even though I couldn't see anything I felt like I was spinning round and round in tiny fast circles. And then it was over just as quickly as it had begun.

My heard thumped loudly in my chest, assuring me that it was still there. The overwhelming array of colours and smells threatened to override my senses. I was still sore. My head was throbbing with pain. I took in little of the room except from the cold metal bars caging me in. Jones's face loomed at me out of the darkness. The brig around me swayed, but I focused on staying upright. Then, just as I was regaining my balance, Jones hit me to the floor. Blood trickled into my eye.

"Get up," Jones ordered. I had almost forgotten he was there. I tried to, I swear I did, but I was shaking so badly I couldn't stand. He shouted at me again and this time his shout was accompanied by a sharp blow to the side of my head. I tasted the blood. His roaring insults echoed in my ears and rang out in my head as his fists slammed against my body, but I didn't feel him hurting me. I was numbed from external pain by the death of my brother. His foot crushed into my side again and again. I could smell the blood now too as well as taste it. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head up. He smashed it against the wall again and again. The world around me wobbled, but stayed there. It took him seven attempts before he had done enough damage to knock me out. When the darkness did eventually wash over me I hoped and I prayed that it would be a sleep from which I would never wake. I would finally be out of my misery.


	20. Bootstrap

**Hi, I know it was longer than last time, but I'm sure the wait hasn't killed anyone! Thanks for the reviews guys! **

**LOVE YOU!**

**LV**

**XX  
**

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My eyes fluttered open- once, twice, and then closed again. The light was too bright, my lids too heavy. I felt myself drifting off again. Good. Why couldn't I just go back to that dark place? It had been so much easier, so much better. Something was trying to pull me away from it. My eyes opened for longer this time. Not enough time to focus, but longer. They opened again. Bright lights and a swirling mass. I blinked, but that was it, my eyes stayed open.

My prayers were not answered.

I lived.

My lips were too dry. I licked them and pain shot up and down the cuts in them. I winced. My throat was all clogged up with something. I coughed and something warm and red fell out of my mouth onto the floor. Blood. It wasn't just in my mouth. It was matted in my hair and had dried on my face. It stained the wall and the floor. My head throbbed again and again and I knew exactly where it had come from. My sigh hurt my ribs as much as the bright light hurt my eyes. I lay there for a moment. Listening to silence and trying to decide what to do next. I wanted to stay where I was. I wanted to just curl up and die in a dark corner. If I didn't die of my own accord, I'm sure Jones would come and finish me off. Do me a favour.

Someone in the empty cell coughed.

I froze where I was, but my eyes kept moving, searching everywhere I could for the owner of the cough. A quick sweep of my surroundings told me that I was indeed on my own, but then the cough came again. It was the chesty, hacking cough of someone who was extremely ill. I thought that I may be hearing things, that maybe the blow to my head that was throbbing in pain had been harder than I thought and instead of killing me had left me delusional. I pulled myself up onto my arms. The room spun in tight circles around me. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut until I felt the spinning sensation slow to a stop. I opened them again and slowly rose to my feet. I put out my hand to stop myself falling as the spinning started up again. My hand caught the wall and I managed to balance there.

"You," someone said. They're voice was faint, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. Then I saw the face embedded in the wall. He looked at me with dark eyes that were sunken back slightly into his pale face. He could easily have been mistaken for part of the barnacle-covered ship. "I'm sorry… I couldn't… help."

He spoke with a great deal of effort and with little emotion. Emotion was too much hard work, but something in his eyes told me he meant it.

"Help what?" I asked.

"You… when Jones was…" I let him leave it there. We both knew what he meant.

"Don't worry about it," I responded. He barely looked like he could help himself. "I didn't want any help."

"He could… have killed… you…" said the man.

"That's what I wanted," I said, but I have no idea why I said it to him. I had no idea who he was. He managed to laugh, but only briefly.

"You're young… you have… a lot… to… live for…"

I felt like asking him how he knew that with any amount of certainty or telling him exactly what was wrong with my life, but I settled for, "Who are you?"

"They… call… me… Bootstrap…"

Bootstrap?

Good Lord! It was Will's dad! I stared at him for a long time, searching for any resemblance between him and Will. Bootstrap's face was changed beyond recognition, worse than Jones's other crew members.

"William Turner?" I said in disbelief. At the sound of his name he jerked his head upwards. "Will's father?"

"You know my name," he said quietly and then to no-one in particular, "She knows my name!"

"I know you're son, William," I said. He studied me.

"You're not Elizabeth!"

"I know," I blinked at him. "I'm Isabel, a friend of his."

"A friend of who's?"

"Will's," I frowned at him. I had already told him that.

"You know my son?" he looked interested by something he already knew.

"Yes."

"You're not Elizabeth," he announced after studying me.

"I know!"

He fell silent and shrank back into the shadows as a noise alerted us to the presence of someone else. There were a few shouts, then a clang and then silence. Footsteps retreated out of the brig.

"Belle," a whisper broke the silence. The only one who called me Belle? Jack. More torture. I truly had ended up in hell. I turned, willing it to be a dream, or at least a hallucination. That familiar jolt at meeting his gaze told me it wasn't. There was something wrong with his eyes, they were unusually shiny and… red. Almost as if he had been crying… or was about to start. But that was ridiculous. Why would Jack Sparrow shed a tear? "Isabel!" his voice trembled slightly. What was going on? "Thank God! I thought… we thought…"

"What?" I asked, as he moved closer to the bars of the other, smaller cell next to mine. He pressed himself right up against them, as if trying to melt through like Jones had done.

"It's just… Gibbs said that when… when I died you… you… you tried to…" his voice dropped to a whisper. I knew where this was going. I couldn't believe that Gibbs had told him. "I thought you were dead…"

I looked away from him forcing myself not to cry in pain and concentrating on making my voice as cold as possible, "Stop acting like you care."

He stared at me. "I do care."

I laughed, it hurt my ribs, so it was short-lived, "Leave it, Jack! Why can you never just tell the truth!"

"I am!"

I laughed bitterly again and shakily stumbled away from him, ignoring how quickly the room was spinning. I sank down onto the floor at the other end of the room. He avoided my eyes, but his hands were shaking. "Why did you do it, Izzy?"

I sighed, forgetting how much pain that caused me. "I thought James was dead and then you died. I wasn't exactly having the best of days!"

He didn't respond to that immediately. He looked away. I thought I saw his hand shaking as he rested them on the bars of his cell. "You've changed, Belle," he said quietly.

"I haven't!"

There was a short silence. He still wouldn't look at me, "Do you know what the last thing I heard before the Kraken got me was, love?"

"Your own proclamation of undying love for Elizabeth?" I asked sarcastically. He frowned.

"Hardy! She'd just killed me!"

"Then what?" I felt my eyes narrow; the only thing I seemed to be able to do that didn't hurt me.

"You."

"Me?" I was unable to hide the surprise in my voice. He carried on like he hadn't heard me. There was a bitter tone in his voice.

"You were screaming," he sounded almost as if he was in physical pain. "Screaming for me, I could hear you. You sounded so hurt, in so much pain. You wanted me to come back and I wanted to, love, I swear I did, but I couldn't." His voice dropped to a whisper, "Because it would put you in danger."

"A convincing speech, but with one major flaw," I said, not wanting to let him know I had so nearly been caught up in his lies. "You stayed for no other reason than that Elizabeth made you!"

He shook his head. "I escaped the chains before the Kraken took down the _Pearl_, but it already had it's grip on her. I could have tried to get away, love."

I didn't know what to say, I really didn't. If he was telling the truth then it made me want to cry, but if he was lying, which was more probable, then it made me want to punch him. I didn't know whether he could be trusted anymore. My gut reaction was always to trust him, but that was what had got me into this mess. Well maybe not the mess I was in at that point, but there had been plenty of messes before.

"C'mere, Izzy," he said, beckoning me over to where the two cells joined. I hesitated, got to my feet slowly and moved towards him. He said nothing until I was standing right before him, unsure as to whether to move any closer. His hands reached through the bars and pulled me closer. His breath tickled my face, "I don't want to fight with you anymore, Belle."

He pulled me into a nice, albeit slightly awkward hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Her Royal Pain In The Neck Elizabeth sent me," he replied.

"That bitch," I muttered. "Serves you right for voting for her."

He chuckled and brushed the matted hair from my face. "What did he do to you, Belle?" he asked quietly.

"I'll live," I said and looking into his eyes right there and then and being so close to him wiped thoughts of Elizabeth from my mind... living didn't seem so grim anymore. "If we get out of here."

His eyes shifted to something behind me. "Half pin-barrel hinges," he breathed.


	21. Joined in Holy Matramony

He broke himself out first and then he came to get me. I watched him lift the door free the way that Will had showed us the second time I had met Jack and something about the déjà vu of it all brought a smile to my lips. As he was lifting my door free of its hinges with the plank of wood he looked at me suspiciously. "What?"

"Nothing… am I not allowed to smile anymore?" I asked innocently. His eyes narrowed slightly, but I could see he was holding back a smile.

"I dunno, love. You tell me," he said. "You seem to have outlawed it for yourself."

"Well, every country in the world seems to have outlawed you and yet you're still here," I teased. He grinned at me as he chucked the door to one side. I missed being comfortable enough around him to tease him. I wondered how long it would last. The truce we had just formed seemed like a good idea- the battle had started, I could hear it. The _Dutchman_ pitched back and forth and I knew that everyone involved had a huge sense of their own mortality. I know I did. But to one person, mortality soon wouldn't matter because, should everything go according to plan, there would soon be a new Captain for the _Flying_ _Dutchman_. A future Captain who was, at that very moment, in the process of wrapping his warm arms around me and smiling down at me with those beautiful brown eyes. I knew that my fleeting happiness had reached the end of its short life.

"The heart," I muttered, too distracted to notice how close Jack was let alone register the fact that he was, of his own accord, moving closer still.

"What?" he sounded like I was distracting him from something he had been concentrating quite hard on.

"You have to stab it _now_," I said quietly. He pulled away from me. It was cold outside of his embrace, but not half as cold as I was inside. "Then we can win. You promised Will."

He looked at me and sighed, "I suppose we'd better go find it then, love."

"Immortality awaits you, Captain Sparrow…" I said in an attempt to lighten the mood. I turned away from him. I didn't want to see that smile that was sure to be on his face. The smile that told me how much being immortal truly meant to him. It was selfish of me, I know, not to want to see someone I love being happy, but getting what he wanted meant that I would lose him. As much as it pains me to say, this was probably for the best if I thought about it. Which, I can promise you, I did. "After all… it's all you've ever wanted…" I thought I heard him contradict me, but I was too far away by that point to be sure and he spoke quietly, if indeed he had said anything at all. I glanced over my shoulder at him, but not for long, my lower lip trembled slightly, "Which way?"

There was no reply. I heard him cross the floor and felt him take my hand in his. It had been shaking as much as my lip and it was cold, but all of that vanished when his warm fingers entwined with mine. I looked at him quizzically. "Might as well make the most of what time we have," he shrugged. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, it was hard enough to breathe without crying let alone say anything.

He led me away. I didn't question where we were going. Jack would get us there, he usually did. It's funny how things had a knack of working out for him. Lucky him. True to tradition, Jack found the right room. The _Dutchman _was under heavy attack and bits of wood and splinters were flying around left, right and centre. I wondered which ship out of the unfortunate Brethren had been stupid enough to try and take the _Dutchman_. There were two frightened-looking guards by the chest. I recognised them from Port Royale, but their names escaped me briefly.

"Halt there or we'll shoot!" said the shorter one. Mulroy? Was that right? It sounded so. That would make the skinnier one Murtogg? I hoped that I wouldn't be called upon to name them at any point. What was the point? They may as well be twins! There was a pause as Jack mulled over how best to get past them. Then a part of the wall behind them exploded into splinters and they both flinched.

"Good one!" Jack laughed. "Come to get me effects." He busied himself putting on his hat and picking up his pistol and sword, but I knew better than to think he had forgotten, or given up on the heart. He glanced at them as he shoved his hat on, "Admirable though it may be, why are you here when you could be elsewhere?"

"Someone has to stay and guard the chest," said Murtogg. His friend immediately turned to him and argued about the break down in military discipline on the _Dutchman_. Murtogg blamed the Fish-people. I was so caught up in the random stupidity of their utterly pointless conversation that Jack had to tug quite sharply on my hand to get me away from there. In his other hand was the chest. The door shut on their arguing and I turned to him.

"We need to hurry, love," he told me.

"I know that," I looked away from him. I could almost hear the clock ticking away what little time I had left with Jack. And each deadly tick brought fresh thoughts flowing through my mind, '_How long do we have left? Should I tell him how I feel before it's too late or will I let him leave not knowing? If he knew, would it change anything? What would he say? Could I deal with the answer, whichever one it was?'_

Stepping out into the rain was a welcome distraction. It was torrential, maybe even rivalling English rain. We were soaked within a second of leaving the shelter of the galley.

"Lookee here boys, a lost bird," cold tones cut through what I had been thinking and served as another distraction from depressing thoughts about the dire situation considering my feelings for Jack.

_'Shit!'_

"Follow me, Belle," Jack breathed ever so quietly by my ear, letting go of my hand. Not sure why, but I obeyed without question as he started backing away from Jones and his advancing crew.

"A lost bird that never learned to fly!" Jones withdrew his sword. What the hell were we going to do?

"To my great regret," Jack replied, "But…" he ran up to stand on the side of the _Dutchman_. I ran just a pace behind him He grabbed a rope as I hopped up beside him. "Hold on tight, Izzy," he breathed ever so softly. Then he turned back to Jones, "… never too late to learn, eh?"

I just had time to grab a hold of his waist before he slammed the chest against something, freeing the rope and shooting both of us up into the air. There was a sickening jolt as my feet left the solid deck and then I felt like I had left my insides down there. Jack was the only sold thing in the whole world for a few split seconds. Colours and shades blurred around me before my feet found a narrow ledge and I wobbled around a bit before re-gaining my balance. By the time I had sorted myself out Jones was standing right in front of us.

_'Shit!'_

Quick as a flash, Jack pushed the rope into my hands. "Go!" he said and then he shouted, "Go!"

"No!" I shouted back. I barely had anytime to think, so I went with my instincts and they told me not to leave Jack.

"Love, this is my chance to get the key!" he said loudly enough for me to hear him over the rain, but quietly enough that Jones wouldn't hear him. "GO!"

I froze, not knowing what to do. I didn't want to leave him knowing that it may be the last time I saw him, but I didn't want to be there when he stabbed the heart. It would be too hard to watch. He made the decision for me. He pushed me off the mast. I had no choice but to grab on to it. I slid down a few feet, the rope grazing against the palm of my hands and leaving them searing in pain. I spun around in the air, completely disorientated by the whole thing. Two ships spun beneath me. The _Dutchman _and the _Pearl_. I should have guessed that only those aboard the _Pearl _would be stupid enough to try and take the _Dutchman_. But that also meant that now Jack _had _to stab the heart. It was our friends' lives that were in danger. Both ships were circling each other, but not of their own accord and I found myself staring into the heart of a massive, spiralling whirlpool. I swung round the _Dutchman_'s masts trying to decide quickly what to do. I couldn't stay on the _Dutchman _for long; it was too risky as Jack and I were the only ones on board that weren't on Jones's side we would be the first to be killed. The _Pearl _was too far away for me to swing to, but I couldn't keep spinning for this long or I would be sick and my hands were beginning to slide from the wet rope.

I landed safely on another mast; only for it to jolt beneath my feet as it came into contact with the _Pearl's _mast_. _I steadied myself in time to see Jack fall from his high-up battle with Jones. I did it without thinking. I launched myself back into the air and swung to meet him mid-fall. I grabbed him in that spit second where we passed each other. His hands found the rope and he looked at me, as surprised as I was by the sheer luck of my timing.

"I thought I told you to go away," he shouted over the wind rushing past us and the noise of the churning whirlpool.

"Charming!" I said, although I knew he was joking. "I save you from being splattered all over Jones's deck or falling in that cyclone and this is the thanks I get? Next time I won't bother!"

He didn't answer, as we swung round he drew his pistol and aimed it at Jones. It pinged off the chest and he dropped it, sending it crashing to the deck below. There was no time to celebrate, we were slipping.

"We can't both stay here for long!" Jack shouted. I nodded and then, before he could say anything, I dropped. Hurtling through the air and praying I had judged it right. I thought I heard Jack scream for me, but it could have been the wind rushing past my ears. I put out my hands in the few seconds I was falling that was turning out to feel like a lifetime. They slammed into something very, very solid. I winced and clung onto the wooden boom of the _Pearl_. My hands, slipped in the wet and I struggled up to sit on the boom. I slid along to the rigging and started climbing, my cold, shaking hands often missing a few rungs on the way down.

A fresh attack from one of Jones's men meant I had little time to recover. My sword went straight through him and he fell face-first onto the deck. A cry behind me mad me turn, sword ready only to meet Elizabeth who had just finished fighting someone off. She ran to me, a brilliant smile splitting her face. "Will and I married!" she shouted happily.

I gasped and felt myself share her smile, "That's brilliant!" I glanced around us and the pandemonium. "But how on earth did you manage it?"

"Barbossa did it," she said and then running to the side she grabbed a rope that someone had just swung across on. "Come with me, Izzy!"

"But I just came from there!" I grumbled, but nevertheless joined the new Mrs Turner as she swung to the _Dutchman_.


	22. Until Death Do They Part

**Hey people! I think you all know what's coming next... that's why its so short... Will deserves a chapter to himself, and it seemed like the best place to end this chapter. The good news is that after this things are looking up (for a bit)! **

**Before we start nineteennitytwo has two brilliant fics that need readers as fab as yourselves! One is a Pirates fic (and I know your Pirates fans, or why would you be here?) it's called What Mark Did He Leave On You and the other is a Horton Hears a Who fic (if you haven't seen the film THEN DO!!!).**

**Anyway... please check 'em out!  
**

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The first thing I saw upon landing on the _Dutchman_ was Jack lying limply in the corner by the stairs. I screamed and ran forward. I never reached him. I was stopped by a man with a conch for a head. The thing I hated about Jones's crew was their immortality. Even when I took his head clean off he managed to fight on until I had sliced open his stomach.

Things weren't exactly going well. Jack wasn't lying still anymore. I couldn't even see him in the mess. Both Will and Elizabeth were lying on the floor with Jones standing over them. Their shared glance told him everything and he laughed.

"Love; a dreadful bond, and yet so easily severed," he sneered at Elizabeth before looking to Will. "Tell my, William Turner, do you fear death?"

"Do you?" Jack's words rang out, loud and clear across the deck, stopping Jones from stabbing Will. My heart lifted from the deep, dark pit I hadn't known it had been hiding in. Everything was going to by alright now. Jack had the heart in one hand and the small, broken part of his sword in the other. Jones stared at him and knew his time was up. "Heady tonic," said Jack, "Holding life and death in the palm of one's hand."

"You're a cruel man, Jack Sparrow," Jones commented.

"Cruel is a matter of perspective," Jack countered.

"Is it?" Jones asked and before any of us could do anything, before we could shout or scream or stop it from happening Jones let out an almighty roar of rage and plunged his sword deep into Will's chest.

It was then that everything changed. The colours drained from the world, as they did from Will's face as he paled. The only sounds were his cry of pain and Elizabeth's screams. The light faded from around us as it did from Will's eyes. Elizabeth was doing all she could to keep it there. She crawled along towards him, shouting for him not to leave her. To stay with her and keep holding on. She touched his wet face and he made feeble attempts to do the same back. I put my arms around them both, urging Will to stay alive and refusing to cry. Tears would make it too final, too real. I think he tried to speak to her, but he couldn't. His lids were drooping, and he was almost gone. His face was so white it was almost see-through, but it was his eyes that scared me the most. I could physically _see _him slipping from reality. That spark that marked the eyes of the living from those of the dead was flickering out of existence. I could see hi fighting to put it back there, but it was a battle he was losing. I looked around for help. There had to be a way out of this. There had to be a way to save him. My eyes met Jack's. For once, that gave me no sense of comfort, he just looked so lost.

"_**DO SOMETHING**_!" I screamed at him. I didn't know what he possibly could do, but I had always been able to rely on him in times like this. He sprang forwards immediately. He pressed the sword into Will's limp hand and used it to pierce the heart. I didn't look to see what happened to Jones. Will was what was important now. What was going to happen? Had we been too late in stabbing the heart? Was he already dead or had Jack just saved him? I stared at Will's blank, empty face, willing for something to happen. A twitch, a flicker of life, anything. Anything would be better than the expressionless, blank face before me.

A warm pair of arms enveloped me, but they were trying to pull me away. I didn't want to go. I turned to see that Jack was holding me and trying to pull me backwards. He said something about it being time to leave. I didn't really understand why. But then I saw the crew of the _Dutchman _who were slowly marching towards Will with Bootstrap in the lead and the boat tipped dangerously to one side, towards the cyclone and I knew that it truly was time to leave. I grabbed Elizabeth around the waist and pulled her back towards wherever Jack was taking us. She struggled towards Will's body, but I held her tight. I wasn't going to let her go. Will was being blocked from sight by the crew of the _Dutchman_. Their chanting voices rose to the heavens and I sent up a silent prayer that what Jack had tried to do had worked. The rope I wasn't even aware that Jack had put in my hands jerked and I felt myself rising upwards as the _Dutchman_ slipped away beneath my feet. It fell into the cyclone and was consumed by the waves. The sail Jack had attached us too billowed out and filled with wind, carrying us away from the _Dutchman_. He was good in a crisis. Elizabeth clung to me, sobbing into my shoulder as the body of her husband disappeared under the swell below us. All we could do was pray that this wasn't the end for the _Dutchman_.

Or Will.


	23. The Fall of The Endeavour

**Hello everyone! Thanks for all the reviews and comments! We've not got much of this story left. ;( I'm a bit sad now! I don't really want AWE to end!**

**LV  
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The _Pearl _picked us up from where we landed in the sea. Elizabeth was shivering, but I doubted it was just from the cold, her face was pale and drawn. She was only just managing to hold herself together. There was no time for her, or any of us, to grieve. There was no time for us to recover or do anything except prepare for our next struggle. I knew nothing would be half as hard, or half a draining as our last one. It was just one last hurdle before the race for power finished and to be perfectly honest, I didn't care who won.

Jack and Barbossa argued over what to do now that the _Endeavour_ was fast approaching. Jack wanted to fight, but mostly everyone else wanted to run. I put my arm around Elizabeth's shoulder. It was at that moment that a dark shape stirred beneath the water. The _Flying Dutchman _sprang up out of the waves and I felt my heart lift with her. Sea water rained down from her, pouring over the sides and dripping from the mast. A bright smile lit up Elizabeth's face and the sparkle in her eyes reignited and danced there as she looked upon the _Dutchman_… and her new Captain.

I could see him at the helm as she turned to sail alongside us. Will was small and far away, but recognisable even from a distance. He was most defiantly alive and his crew were looking more human too. Jones's hold on the _Dutchman _was broken.

They made a formidable team- the _Pearl_ and the _Dutchman_- and I would not have liked to have been aboard the _Endeavour_ when the two legendary ships turned to face her. We drew up alongside her. Some men, knowing the hopelessness of their fight, chose to dive off the ship and take their chances that way. The order to 'fire all' rose up from both ships and we didn't hesitate to follow them up. The fight was unfair and that did occur to me, but I felt no remorse. When had Beckett ever treated us with and amount of decency or fairness? So why should we show him any? All I had to do was remember the arrests, the executions of masses and the punishments for anyone who even so much as thought the word 'piracy', the death of the Governor… and James, and the sounds of cannon fire was, for once, a happy one. Beckett had brought it upon himself. There wasn't one person on either ship that didn't have a reason to celebrate when the first shots hit the _Endeavour_. They pierced her sides, throwing out pieces of wood and debris into the air. The masts splintered and collapsed onto the deck only to be consumed my flames moments later at we hit her gunpowder supplies. The caught instantly and the _Endeavour _was set alight, blazing for a few minuets in the water. We watched her burn until there was nothing left but the burnt-out skeleton of what had once been the pride of the Royal Navy. No-one shed a tear. Nobody protested and none of us felt any shred of guilt. I knew that the Navy would go home and tell tales of our ruthlessness and our thirst for blood, but that just made them all the more hypocritical. They had been ruthlessly killing us for months, quenching their desire for blood with mass executions. They had driven us to what they now saw. Angry, savage, bloodthirsty pirates… and their downfall. We were what they made us.

With the cry of battle still ringing in our throats and ears we turned our eyes towards our enemy. The Naval fleet that spanned across the whole horizon was turning away and fading into the distance. An almighty cheer rose up from the Brethren. Hats flew into the air. Jack looked to Gibbs.

"You can throw my hat if you like…" he said, passing it to him. Gibbs looked thrilled. Strange man.

"Aye aye Captain!" he said cheerfully, tossing it into the air. I lost track of it as it fell onto the deck.

"Now go get it back," he ordered. As Gibbs stomped off to find it I felt Jack's arm slip around my waist. I looked up at him. He smiled. The thing I hate about his smile is that it is impossible not to smile back. But I let it slip. After all, there was a reason to smile. The battle was over and we had emerged victorious. We were, for those few minuets, all united on the same side. But knowing the pirate world as intimately as I now did, I knew that peace wouldn't last.

***

The Brethren disbanded and Elizabeth got ready to say goodbye. Everyone turned out on deck to see her off. She would not be returning to the _Pearl_. She was going to wait for Will. Barbossa was first in line, and he would hate me for saying it, but he looked a little sad.

"Mrs. Turner," he nodded to her. She smiled at the use of the name. The rest of the crew nodded to her, saying nothing. She acknowledged them in the same way before reaching Jack.

"Jack…" she said. He looked up. "It would never have worked out between us."

He smiled. "You keep telling yourself that, darlin'." To my shock she started to lean towards him, but before I could look away or even feel any pain he put his hands out to stop her, "Once was quite enough."

It was then that I knew. I knew there was nothing between Jack and Elizabeth. There never had been and I had been such an idiot to think that. When I saw him lean away from her I felt like I had been walking around with my eyes half closed and someone had just taught me how to see. To see Jack properly. There was nothing in his eyes to suggest that he felt anything other than friendship towards her. The look in Jack's eyes when he looked at Elizabeth was different from Will's. There was one vital thing missing… love. It brought an inexplicable sense of relief to me. To know that it had just been something I had made more complicated than it truly was almost made me smile. It left a lot unanswered, but there was time for that. Right now it was my turn to say goodbye to Elizabeth. She looked around for me. Her eyes met mine and I ran towards her. I flung my arms around her and buried my head in her shoulder.

"Bye, Izzy," she choked.

"No," I shook my head. "Not really, we'll stay in touch."

"Yes," I felt her nod. "We will… I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," I said. I pulled back from her. I could see in her eyes that she knew how hard this was going to be for her when Will left. "I'll be there if need me."

She bit her lip and nodded. "I know," she said quietly. She glanced over to where her longboat was waiting, "I should go…"

"Yeah," I nodded, hugging her one last time. "Bye."

"Bye," she smiled weakly, climbing down into the boat. I watched her sail away and felt a twinge of sadness. I knew that I would see her again, I swore it to myself, but things wouldn't be the same. It was almost like the end of an era. Elizabeth, Will and I had always been together, but now Will would only be around once every ten years and I doubted he'd want to spend his only day with me. Elizabeth would wait for him. She would need company, of course and if she needed me, then I would be there. But I didn't want to stay on land. I wanted to travel and see the world. It didn't look like that was going to happen though. While I _felt _at home here I didn't know if I actually had a home here. Would the crew still want me around now that all of this was over? And then there was the other problem. Just because Jack wasn't in love with Elizabeth didn't mean that he was automatically in love with me. As if he knew I had been thinking about him I felt Jack slip an arm around my waist. I noticed there was a new light in his eyes that had been missing during the recent stresses.

"So, love," he asked, "where to next?" I suddenly felt very, very tired, but I knew where I needed to be.

"Port Royale," I said without hesitation.


	24. Where to next?

"What?" He looked at me in utter confusion. It was like I had just asked him to take me to the moon.

"Port Royale," I repeated. I forced myself to look him in the eyes. It was the only way to make him believe it.

"Love, we can't go there! We'll be hung if they catch us," he smiled at me in the way one smiles at a child when they've just said something really stupid and you had to explain to them why everyone else was rolling around on the floor in stitches of laughter.

"I didn't mean for you to come with me. You can just drop me off," I said. He blinked. The smile slowly faded from his lips as he finally realised what I was asking of him. His mouth hung slightly open for a while and he just kept staring at me. It was horrible. The light in his eyes hardened.

"What?" his voiced tensed as did the arm that was still placed around me. I could feel my heart thudding in my ears and I got that giddy sick feeling I always get when I'm lying. Or about to. My intestines were tying themselves in knots. When you've been living among pirates for as long as I had, you get used to lying… and being lied to.

"You don't have to come into Port Royale with me," I said. "I am capable of getting myself to shore. None of you will be any danger. You'll be gone before they have time to realise you're there let alone catch you. And I know my way around my own home… I don't need an escort."

"Home?" he picked up on the word I had most wanted him to.

"Yes, Jack. Take me home."

He shook his head, "You can't go back to Port Royale."

"Because… because you won't be welcome there. You'll be hung as soon as you set foot there. You're a pirate Isabel!"

I shook my head, "No, not anymore. If there is one thing I am certain about that concerns my brother it is that he managed to clear our names. He was working for Beckett and the East India Trading Company." I was shocked to feel myself smile as if I was genuinely happy about what I was saying. I was getting good at this lying thing. "I'm free to go home!"

"Permanently or just for a visit?" he tested.

"Permanently."

"As in… forever? You're not coming back?"

"That's generally the definition of permanently," I pointed out. He looked so lost that it through me off guard for a second or two, but then the lies tumbled out of my mouth sounding so convincing that even I almost believed them. "I told you I was homesick. I told you that I needed to be back at Port Royale. I don't know what you're acting so surprised about…"

"But-"

"But what?"

"Nothing. You're right. It's always been you're main priority," his voice was cold and hard I winced away from him slightly. So slightly I doubt he noticed.

"Thank you for helping and everything, Jack, but…" I looked around at the _Pearl_ in what I hoped he would decipher as a detached way rather than know the pangs of longings I was feeling, "… you don't seriously think I belong here do you?"

There was a silence. "I used to," he said quietly. I looked away from him as my stomach clenched uncomfortably.

"I belong with…"

"Your own kind," Jack finished for me.

"Yeah," I sighed. It sounded worse coming from him. Much worse. But I felt relieved he understood now.

"Who will you stay with?" he asked. It was an unexpected question and it threw me off guard. I started to panic. I hadn't though of that! If my lies fell apart now I was done for. He looked at me as I searched frantically for the answer, hoping the anxiety did not show on my face. Then it came to me. It was so obvious I almost laughed.

"George."

He nodded ass if I ha just confirmed something. Trouble is, I had no idea what that something was. His eyes completely hardened then and they became impossible to read. His face was set. "Then I shall take you home."

"Capt'n!" Gibbs's shout cut through the awkwardness of the silence Jack had started to walk away from. "Do we have a heading? Barbossa suggests Tortuga?"

"Stopping off a Port Royale first," said Jack listlessly.

"Why?" Gibbs sounded disgusted by the very thought of it.

"Miss Norrington is going home," Jack replied before walking away. He hadn't looked at me since his eyes had become so cold. I looked away from him. I hated the way he said it. Port Royale being my 'home' sounded worse coming from him. Now someone else had said it my lie almost seemed plausibly true. And he had called me 'Miss Norrington' as if he didn't even know me.

Or want to…


	25. Is this Goodbye?

**Hey. **

**I saw an angry mob forming on the horizon and I got scared, so this update is brought to you from a top secret location somewhere top secret in deepest, darkest space. You guys are very scary when you want to be! :S I updated as soon as I could, but I'm a bit behind on everything in the entire world and I couldn't get on to the internet because when I had a free second some family member was on and they don't know about any of this and if they did they'd be like, "You fail! What is this rubbish? Why are you wasting you time with this crap?!?! You are banned from everything!" So now has really and truly been my only chance. I do hope you forgive me and disband from scary angry mob...**

**...then again.... maybe not!  
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I didn't join in the celebrations that night. We may have won, but we had paid a heavy price. Jones may be dead, but Will had taken his place. Men had died, along with my brother and I didn't see a reason to celebrate. I hadn't had time to grieve. Celebration didn't seem right. I suppose the crew just wanted a valid reason to get drunk. Not that they ever really needed a reason.

I was more than a little surprised to see that Jack did not join in with the celebrations either. He stood at the rail, looking out deep into the water as if searching for something. I don't know what he expected to find, but he was looking pretty hard. He stayed there long after the sun set. His thoughts clearly troubled him, but I didn't ask. I wasn't in the mood for an earful.

I slept little that night. Maybe because it was my last night aboard the _Pearl_. My last night with Jack. And he wasn't even talking to me. It was probably best that way, it would be easier for me to leave if there was no Jack to hold me back. I couldn't pretend I hadn't expected that reaction from him. I knew I was doing what was right for me. But that didn't stop it feeling horribly wrong.

As the crew slept where they had fallen the night before I tried to memorise every detail and every sound. Memories that had etched themselves into the wood of the _Pearl_ seemed to echo and bounce around the walls as if telling me not to leave. I ran my hand along the rail, my fingertips noticing the feel of it and trying to remember each and every contour in every grain of wood. My feet did their best to count the number of steps between my bunk and the door of Jack's cabin. The _Pearl _held so many memories both good and bad, but it had come to represent so much to me.

So it was both a relief and a curse to see the sun come up. It was a sight I was both dreading and longing to see. With the first few cold rays came the sight of Port Royale. It was a sight that filled me with nothing but pure dread. Nothing good was left in Port Royale. My friends were gone and my family wiped out. It was the only place I could escape to. Maybe "escape" was the wrong word. I was leaving the one place I felt free and voluntarily putting myself in the place I had been imprisoned for my whole life.

"Are ye sure ye can't stay?" Gibbs made me jump. "We'd all want ye too."

"All of you?"

"Aye," it was not Gibbs, but Barbossa who'd spoken. I looked at him in surprise. "You may be annoying, but it'd be awful quiet without you."

"Hector Barbossa, you old softy!" I grinned. He rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth twitched a little.

"I dare say Jack would want ye here too," said Gibbs after a pause.

"I doubt it," I sighed quietly. "He's not even talking to me."

"Have ye tried talking to him today?" he asked.

I shook my head, "No…"

"Well ye should, before ye leave," he urged. There was a silence. I looked away from them. I wanted to shout at them to stop staring at me, but that may have been a bit rude seeing as they had just been so nice to me.

"Come on, Master Gibbs," said Barbossa eventually. "We've a lot of hungover pirates to wake up and I aint doin' it on me own. That's how Larry lost his eye."

"No, I heard it was only half an eye he lost," Gibbs replied. They walked off arguing about exactly what fraction of an eye Larry had lost. My eyes were drawn like two magnets to the door of Jack's cabin. It was a barrier between us; closed, but never locked. Open to whichever one of us stopped being stubborn for long enough to open it. My main complaint was that it was usually me. I don't know how he managed to guilt me into opening it when I couldn't even see him, but I found myself knocking on the wood. My pride was well and truly swallowed to make way for one last attempt to patch things up with Jack before I left.

"Come in!" Jack bellowed from inside. I took a deep breath. He probably already knew it was me, I guessed I was most likely to be the only one on the ship polite enough to knock before entering. I pulled open the door with a horrible sinking feeling. But what did I have to lose?

Jack was standing with his back to me, arms folded, looking out to sea through the windows of the _Pearl_. He didn't say anything. He knew it was me, I was sure of it now. The cold silence hanging over us spoke volumes.

"I'm leaving now," I said quietly, not quite sure how to break it, or how he would react. Would he even care?

"Fine," he didn't even turn. Clearly he didn't care. I stood there awkwardly for longer than I should have wondering if he planned on saying anything else. Should I just leave? Was this it? After all that we had been through, the years I'd known him _this _was how it was all going to end?

"I thought I would come and say goodbye," I tried again.

Silence.

"Goodbye," he said with absolutely no emotion. So that was it then. I cursed myself for even bothering to try to talk to him. I turned away and sighed. My sigh seemed to make something deep inside him snap and he whipped around to face me, his face flushing with anger. "Off you go then!" he shouted. "Off you go back to your boring, pathetic life where other people decide things for you! Have your things paid for by money extracted from selling humans as slaves! You can sit and gossip with the other upper-class lowlifes about how awful we pirates are! No doubt you'll be all the more interesting because you have actually spent time with some! Off you go back to the men who had your whole life planned out from the second you were born! Go away and pretend none of this ever happened if you think they'll still accept you, but I'm sure you're precious _George_ will protect you, the filthy lummox! He's not good for you, Belle. Not really! He may seem perfect on paper, but he doesn't deserve you! Go on then! **Get out!!!**"

At the end of his harsh words we stared at each other for a long time. His words hurt me. They cut me deeper than a lot of things ever could. I never knew that he though so lowly of me. He looked away, breathing deeply as if his little speech had taken a lot out of him. His built-up anger had just been released in a rather loud explosion, so I presumed that it had taken some effort. He'd most likely been holding it in since the day we met. He looked down at his table and started re-arranging the maps. I knew he was waiting for me to leave, but I couldn't move. My feet seemed cemented to the floor.

"Get out," he said again. My feet sprang into action. I walked towards the door. As my hand touched the cool doorknob I turned.

"Why are you…" I was ashamed to hear my voice crack. "Why are you being so difficult?"

His fist slammed down against the table making me jump. He rounded on me, his face flushed.

"_**BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!!!!!**_" he bellowed.

* * *

**#GASP!!# Shocked much? But how will she react? Hmm...?  
**

**What do you think? Can I come out of hiding now? What if I tell you that I am really bored of this story and it will be discontinued now?**

**I am JOKING!!! **

**Calm your spams! Jeeze...  
**


	26. Is He Telling the Truth?

**Heya!**

**I have left you hanging, I know that and I'm very, very sorry, but I'm here now so PUT YOUR PITCHFORKS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly...**

**Chelsea: Deep breaths and stay away from pitchforks/ other sharp things that could do me harm!**

**Anna: You read it ALL? In one go?!?! Jeeze... you should get a prize or something!  
**

* * *

?

WHAT????

Had he really just said that? I stared at him. He stared back, looking as shocked by what he had said as I was. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. There were several things I _wanted _to say, but I couldn't get them out. They all rushed up at once trying to get out, but they got stuck and tangled up in my throat, sticking there and stopping me from breathing. They fought with each other to squeeze themselves out, but I knew there was no chance of them coming out in any sort of order. My brain wasn't helping. It had stopped functioning, frozen with shock. Just as it started to thaw out Jack crossed the floor in a few quick strides and it froze right back again. It couldn't even pull itself together enough to stop my mouth hanging open in what was probably a highly unattractive manner.

All I could see were his eyes. When I saw how he was looking at me it made my heart stop. It was a look I had seen many a time in the eyes of Will and Elizabeth when they looked at each other. It was deeper than the ocean and higher than the sky. Love. And it was for me.

Me!!!!!

As I fell into Jack's dark eyes I felt like I was flying. Then suddenly he was kissing me. The second he was close enough his arms wrapped around me and his warm lips pressed against mine and caught them in a desperately fierce kiss. I don't know what came first- his kiss or his embrace. I didn't care. It sent my heart pounding back into life. His kiss pushed all thoughts from my brain. I thought I was about to fall over, but I couldn't even if I wanted to because his arms were tightly wrapped around me, holding me upright. Just as the mechanisms in my brain began to start up again and I was about to put my arms around him and kiss him back he stopped suddenly and sprang away from me. He looked really stressed and as if he was regretting it already.

"Sorry," he said quietly. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "God, Belle, I'm so sorry!"

"What?" I said. . I'd managed to say an actual word. My lips tingled and I raised a finger to them to check that it had all been real.

"I know you said that this couldn't go anywhere, but… I had to… I…" he broke off and looked away. He bit his lip, "… no hard feelings, eh?"

I frowned. "When did I say that?"

He glanced at me. "When I said I was regretting promising to stab the heart…"

"I though you were talking about Elizabeth!" I said. He looked completely bewildered by that.

"_Elizabeth_? Why would you think that?"

"Your reason wasn't 'dissimilar to Will's'," I quoted. My heart thrummed away to itself its happiness taking on an edge. "You kissed her. You acted like… I thought you…"

I trailed off. The memories of it all were sending doubts streaming back into my head where they stayed screaming at me not to trust him. I looked at him, searching for that look in his eyes to help reassure me that he wasn't lying, but they were closed. He sighed and then they opened.

"Belle…" he muttered, shaking his head. He was starting to smile. "Belle, love, I wasn't talking about her! My reason was similar to Will's in that I'm in love. Dissimilar in that it's not with the same girl. I didn't kiss her, _she _kissed me. And in case you've forgotten that was to _kill _me. How does that in anyway represent love?"

"I… I just…" It was too hard to speak now. I was too confused and too overwhelmed by Jack and his kiss. The tingle was fading from my lips, but spreading through the rest of body as he smiled at me. His eyes were laughing at me, but not in a hurtful way. He moved closer.

"Isabel…" he sighed, shaking his head. "Love… you can be so stupid… We are both such idiots…" He laughed softly. Somehow I wasn't offended by being called an idiot. His arms pulled me towards him again, his warm breath tickling my face.

"Jack…" I murmured reaching up to touch his face. "Port Royale-"

His eyes widened and his arms stiffened around me. His eyes became suddenly intense, holding me where I was with more strength than his arms were. His mouth opened and he stumbled over his words a little, "No… don't… don't go Belle… please. Please…"

"I have to," I said, putting my finger on his lips to quieten him so I could explain. "I have to know what happened to James. I need to know for sure that he really is…"

I couldn't finish my sentence, but I didn't need to, he knew what I meant and he nodded. "I get it, love… but afterwards do you want to come back?"

For a moment I could only nod, "More than anything."

He sighed in a happy way, "Why couldn't we have said this earlier?"

"I already told you I thought…" his smile stopped me.

"It's always been you, Belle." He leant down as I reached up and our lips met in the middle. This time it was more gentle and relaxed than the last. His lips were warm and moved tenderly on mine. I smiled through the kiss and I felt him do the same. There was no need to hurry; we had all the time in the world. We had the rest of our lives.

Or so I thought…

* * *

**There ya go. Three chapters left...**


	27. Port Royale

**I'm back in my safe place! DISBAND ANGRY MOB! DISBAND!!!**

**Chelsea: Burn your pitchfork!!**

* * *

His hand tangled in my hair, his other one rested on the small of my back and he pulled me closer. His kiss deepened as my arms moved to round his neck. I felt like my heart was going to explode and my head was spinning so fast I was either going to fall over or take off into the air. It felt more like the latter was most likely. Then someone coughed and I remembered with some degree of annoyance that there were other people in the world besides Jack and I. We slowly emerged from our happy little bubble and turned to see Gibbs.

"'Bout time," he smiled. I flushed a little. Jack's arm circled my waist and he pulled me towards him. I glanced up at him. He was smiling.

"Master Gibbs, take care of my ship," he instructed. Gibbs looked slightly confused.

"Why where will you be?" he asked.

"Port Royale," he replied.

"What?!?" Gibbs and I said together.

"I'm going with Belle," he said. He glanced down at me, "If that's alright with you, love."

I thought about how hard being in Port Royale could potentially be for me and I felt a rush of gratitude towards Jack for offering to come with me when I hadn't even asked him. I nodded, "Please."

He smiled and looked back to Gibbs, "Now, we'll be back at sunset and make sure Barbossa keeps his hands off _my _ship."

Gibbs nodded to show he understood. We walked out to where the longboat was waiting for us, floating by the side of the _Pearl_. I sank down into one of the seats. Port Royale looked exactly the same as the day James and I had first laid eyes on it. My hands started to shake. Jack took the oars and we began to row to Port Royale.

***

"Looks like the Navy's still not back," Jack commented as he glanced around at the almost empty docks. The only ships there were small Navy ships that were put in place for protection rather than for any form of attack. "They must still be re-grouping after the battle."

I shook my head. I knew the Navy too well, "No. Otherwise the small ones would still be away. They're away for a reason. I wonder what it is."

I wondered if this should worry me. I looked to Jack. He looked worried for all of a second, but then his face relaxed into a smile, "Who cares."

I relaxed. If he wasn't worried there was no need for me to be either. I would take things as they came, just as he did. Why worry about it?

It was morning and not that many people were about. The ones who were around seemed far too tired to bat an eyelid at the presence of two pirates in their port. I hoped that we wouldn't run into anyone I knew. That couldn't end well. To be on the safe side we took the backstreets as far as possible until we reached the church. It stood at the top of a hill the graveyard encircled by high, cracked, grey stone walls. The heavy iron gates were closed. I stopped. What was I doing here? I couldn't do this! I wasn't strong enough. I took several breaths to calm myself and stop myself from crying. Jack gently turned my face towards his. I found the strength I needed in his eyes.

"Belle," he said softly. "You don't have to do this."

"I do," I sniffed. "This is something I need to do."

"Alright, love," he said. He put a reassuring arm around my shoulder. I leant in closer towards him, taking comfort from his warmth. I was so glad he was here. I don't know what I would have done without him. It was because of him that I managed to get to the top of that hill and push open those iron gates. Just knowing that he was there and that I had someone there with me made it so much easier to walk past the faded, old headstones to the shinier new ones at the other end. I slowed as we came to the end of the last row. And there it was.

_Admiral James Norrington,_

_Beloved brother and friend,_

_Lost in Action_

_1703-1731_

It was now a cold, hard fact that James was dead. As cold and hard as the stone it was etched into. The stone that was as lifeless as he was. The silence was broken by my sobs. Even though it was what I had been expecting it still hurt me more than I thought it would. To know that he really was dead and there was no way that Elizabeth had been mistaken or hadn't seen everything brought the original pain rushing back, but also gave me a sense of closure. I had never been more grateful to anyone than I was to Jack for coming with me. Everything seemed just that little bit better with him around. As my tears fell onto the gravestone he pulled me into his arms and my pain eased a little. It didn't vanish completely, but it did lessen. He was holding me together even though the world around me was crumbling and disintegrating. He was my port in a storm, a rock for me to cling to. It had once been James who had kept me strong, but now he had vanished from my life like everyone else before him. Why? Why was it fair that he had been taken? Why couldn't it have been someone else? Now it was Jack who stayed constant and for that I was grateful.

I felt him leading me away. We stopped he sat me down. I leant against the trunk of a tree, looking at him as he sat down beside me. He was blurry, but I could see that his eyes were full of warmth and love and understanding. He pulled me into his arms and I buried my face into his chest. He kissed the top of my head and hugged me tightly to him. I could hear his heartbeat. I vowed to do all I could to keep it beating. I couldn't bear to loose anyone else again. Especially not him. I promised myself that Jack and I would always be together.

The world has a funny way of working. That moment when you promise something to yourself you can never really know whether it is a promise you can keep because sometimes that promise is taken out of your hands. For example James had sworn to always be there for me, but now he couldn't be. And that wasn't his fault. Sometimes there are stronger things than us at work and there is nothing that can be done to keep the promises you make.

As we left Port Royale I promised to myself that I would never again set foot there. Little did I know how soon I would be returning and that the reason would be beyond my control.


	28. Tortuga

**Second last chapter...**

* * *

"I don't see why you have to," said Jack stubbornly.

"I want to say goodbye," I replied for what felt like the hundredth time. He remained unconvinced.

"Why?" he scowled. "He's a lummox!"

"He is also my friend," I said, as potentially as I could. Jack scowl deepened.

"He shouldn't be…" he sulked. I had to laugh, His eyes slid back from where they had been glaring at the ship moored in the docks of Tortuga to look at me.

"You're such a child, Jack," I said fondly. His frown faltered before it collapsed completely. I reached up and pressed my lips to his cheek. "I won't be long."

He turned his face towards mine and kissed me, his arms pulling me tight against his chest. My heart pounded as it did every time. It ended too soon as usual. This time it was a loud snore that interrupted us. Surprised, we looked down to find Gibbs exhausted from his night watch, curled up not so far off, fast asleep. Pintel and Ragetti stared down at him.

"Shall we move him?" Pintel asked.

"That would be best," said Jack irritably.

"Where to?" Ragetti asked. Jack sighed, but Barbossa cut across him.

"I've got an idea," he said. I caught sight of a small, worn bear in Gibbs's arms. It made me smile.

"Aww, bless him," I said. Jack frowned.

"How'd he sneak that on board?" he wondered. I pulled myself out of his arms.

"I'd better go," I said, bracing myself for another objection, but he let go of me reluctantly. He walked down the gangplank with me and out onto the docks of Tortuga.

"Hurry back, Belle," he said, but he sounded distracted. "I'll meet you back at the _Pearl_."

He took his arm away from where it was slung around my shoulder. He started to walk away into the crowds. "Where are you going?" I called after him.

"To speak to Scarlette and Giselle," he called back. He must have seen the look on my face because he came straight back. "I need to talk to them, so that there are never any misunderstandings between us."

"And what will you tell them?" I challenged.

"That I love you," he said. I smiled. The words always made me smile. He kissed me again before we parted. I watched him dissolve into the crowds and then turned to board the gangplank of the other ship. It was so perfect. I should have realised that it was too perfect to be true. That nothing ever works out this well. I should have known that the happy little bubble surrounding Jack and I wasn't safe. The trouble with bubbles is that at some point they have to burst. And when they do it is a long fall down.

I had barely stepped onto its deck before a ginger-haired mass descended on me, pulling me into a hug. "Isabel," he said. "Thank God you are safe!"

Safe? When was I ever not safe? Apart from that moment as George was squeezing the air from my lungs and smothering my face with his shoulders. I was going to suffocate if he didn't get off me.

"Mmmnf mmnf mm!" I said. He held me at arms length and looked patronisingly worried.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "What did you say?"

"I said get off me," I repeated and without his shoulder in the way it came out as audible English. I knew he wasn't really listening to me. He was too busy ushering me swiftly away from the deck and muttering furiously in my ear.

"Don't question anything I say, just go with it for the moment and I promise I'll explain the second we're alone," he said. I stared at him. What on earth was going on? I was so preoccupied I didn't look where I was going and almost fell down the stairs to the galley. I collided with a young sailor instead. He looked as confused as I felt and turned to George for help, "Captain?"

'_Captain?'_

"This is Miss Norrington," said George. "She has been found safe and well."

_'What the bloody hell are you talking about?'_

"That's good news, Miss," said the boy. "It must have been terrible."

_'What must have been terrible?'_

How was I meant to answer if I didn't have a clue what he was talking about? George smoothed over my long silence by answering for me, "It was. She's in shock, but at least she's safe."

Shocked? Confused was more the word I would use. George hurried me away. There was only one thing I had understood in that whole conversation. "You're a Captain now, George?"

He gave a modest smile. "Yes, promoted last month."

He opened a door and propelled me inside. When I heard it shut I turned to him, "Congratulations, but what the _hell _is going on?"

"I'll explain in a moment," he said, pushing me down into a chair. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Where are you going?" I called after him, but I was talking to a closed door. I heard it lock. As I waited for him I tried to work out what he was talking about, but he may as well have been speaking in another language. Why was he so concerned over my safety and why was that sailor I hadn't ever met? He returned carrying a dress, which didn't help me solve anything. "George…" I began. "If you want to wear a dress every now and then that's fine you shouldn't have to hide your…"

"It's for you!" he cut across my teasing.

I looked at it, "I'm not wearing that."

"It may not be the height of fashion, but it's all I have on board," he grumbled.

"Why is it on board? Unless… Do you have a 'lady friend' from Tortuga," I tried teasing him again. He was in such a bad mood!

"No!" he snapped. "I am no pirate! It is here so that you could wear it when I found you."

"You were looking for me?"

"Why else would we be here?"

"I though that you were resupplying after the battle or repairing damage or something…" I trailed off. He threw the dress towards me. I held it back out to him.

"Take it back, I'm not wearing it. I'm comfortable in my own clothes," I said. He didn't take it back, instead he laughed at me.

"Society won't accept you dressed as a pirate, Izzy!"

"I don't want them to accept me! I _am _a pirate!" I looked at him defiantly.

"Not anymore. James cleared you're name. You can come home now. The story is that you were kidnapped by pirates and those pirates will be brought to justice. You can return to normal life. Do you understand?"

I felt sick. I knew exactly what being 'brought to justice' meant. "I won't let you kill my friends."

"Come home and I might let them escape…" he adopted his most persuasive tone.

I raised an eyebrow, "Blackmail?"

"An agreement. Just good business."

"You sound like Beckett," I snarled. He took it as a compliment and thanked me with a smile. I glared back. "I'm not coming!"

"Isabel, it's all been arranged. You have to."

"_What_ has been arranged?!"

"Our wedding."


	29. Flight of a Sparrow

**The LAST CHAPTER....**

**but there WILL be another story, so...er, watch this space. MASSIVE thank you to all you readers and reviewers!**

**LV  
XX  
**

* * *

The world stopped. I'm sure of it. It was either me or the world and I'm pretty sure it wasn't me. I was far too busy panicking to stop. "Our _what_?!?" I managed to say as the world started up again.

"Our wedding," he repeated. "Isabel, we're getting married!"

The room was spinning; I gulped in lungfuls of air. No wonder he had been adamant I should sit down. I moved my lips in a desperate attempt to from the words, "Since when?"

He was looking sickeningly relaxed about the whole thing, even a little amused by my reaction. "Don't worry," he said in such a patronisingly soothing tone it made me want me to throw up and it served as a fuel to my growing anger. "James arranged it all. Everything is planned and organized; you don't have to worry about any of that."

"Since… _when_?" I felt compelled to ask again.

"Since your brother and I had a little chat and decided that in light of my forthcoming promotion it would be beneficial for the two of us to marry," he said calmly. "I really don't see what you are making such a fuss about."

Were we having the same conversation? The way he described it as a chat made it sound so casual, like they were discussing the weather, not my future and wellbeing. "At what point during this 'chat' did either of you ask me what I thought? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember you asking me for my hand in marriage and I _certainly _do not remember saying yes!"

"Why would we ask you?" he looked genuinely confused by my remark. "What does it have to do with you?"

"_**I'm the one getting married!**_" I exclaimed. "It is my hand you are asking for!"

"But it is not yours to give away. That decision lies with your brother and he said yes, so asking you is irrelevant." He tired adopting a reasonable tone, "Isabel, I'm sure you can see this from our point of view. James knows he's married you off into a good, well off family and by marring into a family with a Naval background as strong as yours would further help my career. The profits to be gained are g-"

"_**PROFITS?!?!?**_" I shrieked . I was dangerously near hysteria. "I _refuse _to marry for money!"

This confused him as much as the thought of asking me about my feelings on my own marriage. "What else would you marry for?"

"Love."

He actually laughed at me for that one. "Grow up, Izzy! Nobody marries for love, or at least not anybody respectable. Marrying you will allow me to move up in the world. I may even make Admiral, like your brother."

"Your wrong," my voice came out low and deadly. "People do marry for love. What about Will and Elizabeth? They married for love and I intend to do the same."

"Oh really?" he sounded disbelieving. "And who will you be marrying for 'love'?"

He thought he had me there, but he was wrong. The answer made me smile despite the situation. It gave me hope that there was a way out of this, "Jack."

It's amazing the effect words can have on people and how one word can have very different effects on different people. To me, that one word spread warmth through my entire body. Warmth so strong that I was sure I was radiating it. It made George's face cloud over and his eyes and voice filled with disgust, "The _pirate_?"

"I love him, George," I said.

He glanced me over, "Have you slept with him?"

"No!" I was offended he thought so lowly of my morals.

"Good," he nodded, satisfied by my answer. "Then you are not damaged, the wedding can go on."

_'Damaged? What does he think I am? Cargo?' _"Weren't you listening?" I fought to keep my voice level, but spoke as clearly as I could. I stood up and faced him. That way he would defiantly not misunderstand me. "I _will not _marry you!"

He grabbed my shoulders and bashed my back off the wall. As he glared down at me his face twisted with anger, "Were _you_ not listening? You do not have a say in this! James has agreed and that is all that is needed. Yes, Will and Elizabeth may have had her father's blessing to marry for love, but that is not the case with you! Remember your place, you are a woman. Your only job is to look good and say nothing, to be an obedient wife and a good mother, to do what I say and not question my decisions. That is it. No opinions, no say in the matter what so ever! No more mentions of piracy. Forget them. You will have new friends."

"I can't…"

"It is your duty!" His eyes flashed briefly then they softened, as did his tone, "Izzy, I know this must be hard, but we have your best interests at heart."

"Is being miserable one of my best interests?"

"No, I can't…" my voice cracked as I tried to plead with George. He had been blinded with ambition, but I knew that he was still my friend. "I didn't know him. I didn't know anything about love before… now that… Just let me go! Tell everyone in Port Royale that I'm dead and leave it at that! _Please_! I can't leave the man I want to spend the rest of my life with…"

He looked at me like I had just told him that two plus two was three hundred and twenty seven. "There is only one thing that vile man wants from you and it's not the rest of your life! Once he has what he wants from you he'll leave you for some whore before you can turn around!"

"That's not true!" I said fiercely. "He loves me, I know he does!"

"I doubt that man is capable of feeling love."

"How can you say that? You don't know him!"

"He's a pirate! What else is there to know? He will always want what he can't have and you are exactly that! You come from a wealthy family. You are the sister of one of his rivals and you are very high above him. Do you have any idea what saying he has slept with you will do to his ego and reputation?"

I could do nothing but shake my head. His eyes softened as my bottom lip started to tremble. My eyes were stinging, but not as much as his words had. "I'm trying to help you, Izzy. I don't want you to become the last girl in what is probably a very long line of girls who have been duped and dumped by Sparrow. I have your best interests at heart."

I wished he'd stop saying that, but this time he sounded like he really meant it. He drew me into a hug. I bit my lip to stifle a sob. I would not cry in front of him. Although George was warm, his embrace was cold and awkward. He didn't smell right and it just felt all wrong. I couldn't bear the though of spending the rest of my life in those arms. I pulled myself free of them and ran to the door.

He shouted after me as I charged out of it I had to get to Jack. I had to see him. I could hear George's footsteps pounding along behind me. As we raced out onto the deck I turned to face him, "I'm going with Jack and you can't stop me! Tell the people in Port Royale what you like! I'm not going back!"

He took a menacing step towards me, "I could have them all put to death."

I laughed in his face. "Good luck catching us."

I sounded so much more confident than I felt… until I saw the smile on his face. It was not a pleasant one. He looked far too smug. "What is the most important thing in the world to Jack Sparrow?"

"The _Pearl_," I said, wondering where this was going and what sort of game he was playing with me now. His smile got bigger.

"And would he ever be without it?"

"Not if he could help it," I said. "I don't see what-"

"Answer me this, Izzy," he cut across me. "If he loves you so much why is he sailing away without you?"

"What?" I frowned at him. "No… he wouldn't… the _Pearl _is right…"

I stopped, my finger raise, pointing to the empty space where the _Pearl _had been moored. It was gone. Some idiot had tied a dingy in its place. I could physically hear my heart slowly cracking and tearing. George had been right in everything he'd said. The _Pearl _was speeding away from me. I could see her on the horizon.

"Looks like the Sparrow has taken flight," said George coldly. "And as usual, he's flying solo."

That's when the bubble burst.

* * *

**LOVE YOU!!!!!!**


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